What if Birdie Hamilton did Exist?
On display until May 28th (this Saturday is the last day to view the show!) at 937 Offsite Gallery, a satellite gallery for Ditch Projects, is a collection of objects constructed from driftwood, Formica, and acrylic. The pieces seem to transparently reference certain west coast Minimalist forms such as the perfectly finished wooden plank propped easily against the wall that is in direct conversation with John McCracken’s resin coated, vertically oriented plank pieces.
John McCracken
While McCracken’s work has been said to reference the Hot Rod culture or west coast surf culture due to his use of materials and meticulously finish surfaces Hamilton’s work achieves a meditative balance between naturally occurring beach stuff and meticulously and unmistakably man made plastic stuff. The forms compliment each other so well that the dichotomy seems irrelevant. The combination of purple acrylic planes and driftwood feels more like a reconciliation of unnecessarily detached forms than a forced combination of contradictory materials. There are a few instances of combined materials that are so well contstructed it is nearly impossible to see any points of contact or pressure that hold the pieces themselves together.
The show is linked to issues of origin and history in NW art. John Motley’s review touches on the potential reasons and results of the Birdie myth developed by four Ditch members. Mr. Motley references the way that the story of Birdie’s fictional life, work and death draws the focus onto the implications of the work within a historical context. This narrative is interesting in relation to the minimal qualities of the work because it could be perceived as a backhand to the face of the presumed importance of physical presence to minimal art, or maybe more of a nod to the notion of a constructed presence. Instead of immediate physicality this show points to the ultimate non-presence of myth creation.