Human impact on the world displayed through art at Wexner
Snapshots of our world and what harm we humans have done to it can be depressing, but also ironically beautiful.
This conundrum is on view in one of two summer exhibits at Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the Arts.
Photographer and multimedia artist Jonas N. T. Becker uses white topographical maps and coal-dust photographs to give a picture of the impact of coal mining in the Appalachian region.
Works in Becker's exhibit — "A Hole is not a Void" — are presented in several galleries. One is dominated by white and another by black.
In the former, Becker's refaced topographical relief maps of American mountain acreage have been wiped clean of any roads, cities or other human-made landmarks . All that remains is the rise and fall of mountains — with each image from Appalachian regions. The works are soft and individually beautiful.
In the black gallery are subtle "Better or Equal Use" images produced by the artist in a photographic printing process with coal dust from the region. These show what has become of former mining sites — now prisons, golf courses and big box stores.
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The artist also offers the sarcastic short video, "Holographic Mountain," a suggestion to use projected images of the Swiss Alps onto Appalachian sites where the tops of mountains have been blasted away to access coal.
And in yet another gallery is Becker's series "Thank G-d for Mississippi," photographs from the artist's home state of West Virginia that capture the locations of suicides — and what the jumpers would have seen as they plummeted to earth.
"Thank G-d for Mississippi: Bull Run WV, also called Blue Hole" (2009-2024) shows handsome blue water and rocks. On one rock, pink letters read, "My brother lost his life jumping here."
(Becker titled the series with a nod to the fact that West Virginia is second to last among states in terms of low socioeconomic measures, including a correlative high rate of suicides. Mississippi is last.)
The second summer exhibition at the Wexner features a decade of works by Tanya Lukin Linklater, an artist and choreographer of Alutiiq descent.
In her multimedia works, Lukin Linklater, who was brought up in the Kodiak archipelago of Alaska, offers imagery and cultural references of indigenous people even as she contemplates the impact of weather and a challenged environment.
One of Lukin Linklater's projects was informed by the artist's visit to the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in Newark , the newest UNESCO World Heritage site. Lukin Linklater refrained from direct cultural references to the Earthworks because it doesn't reflect her own culture, but at least one of her works was directly inspired: "Scrape soak steam pour crack sew bend brace," an installation featuring a bright orange drape and shells from the area.
In the large exhibition, Lukin Linklater incorporates sculptures, installations, videos, works on paper and poetry. Throughout her work runs a thread of concern for the environment and the peril of violent weather.
Her exhibit title, "Inner blades of grass (soft) inner blades of grass (cured) inner blades of grass (bruised by the weather) references the work of Kodiak Island women weaving baskets with materials soft, cured and bruised by weather.
"Horsehair Question 1" groups horse hair bundles, antler velvet, ash and cherry wood structures and other creations.
Colorful Kokom ("your grandmother") scarves — traditional scarves worn by indigenous women — are connected lattice-like in a large wall installation. Bright-red Kokom scarves, grouped together and suspended from the ceiling, form an enormous, graceful sculpture titled "Held in the air I never fell (spring lightning sweetgrass song)."
The artist has also arranged for open rehearsals by dancers who interact with, among other creations, large triangular sculptures that resemble wood-hunting hats.
In August, toward the end of the run of the two exhibitions, indigenous artists, poets and performers — along with Lukin Linklater — will take part in open rehearsals in the gallery, with events continuing Aug. 13 to 17.
The multimedia exhibits of both Lukin Linklater and Becker require a bit of study and imagination to grasp all the themes and nuances of the artists' works and both also have moments of striking visual beauty.
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At a glance
"Jonas N.T. Becker: A Hole is not a Void" and "Tanya Lukin Linklater: Inner blades of grass (soft) inner blades of grass (cured) inner blades of grass (bruised by the weather)" continue through Aug. 21 at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays.
Gallery admission is free. Visit wexarts.org or call 614-292-3535 for more information.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Wexner Center for the Arts hosts two new exhibits through Aug. 21
