When the elevator doors open you can’t deny Jenny has a flare for the dramatic. The dark lit space, illuminated only by the scrolling text, immediately creates an ominous feeling. Celebrated shadows are formed by the white walls reflecting streaming truisms. Like the bright advertisements of New York and Las Vegas, the space is multidimensional by the horizontal and vertical positioning of the LED screens. The text, void of grammar and punctuation, champions context over content. It is not WHAT is being read, but HOW it is being read.
The exhibition, which the artist creates so tactfully, evokes an emotional melancholy. At first glance, the room seems unreal and otherworldly. What seems like science fiction quickly turns into non-fiction. The truisms, covering issues on humanitarianism and global conflict, kill the ethereal buzz. Liken to the stock market’s recent trend, the falling text isn’t encouraging. A subtle attack on American’s pacifist nature,
Protect Protect (the name of the exhibition) reminds its viewers of atrocities in the Middle East, global warming, and the energy crisis.
Personally, after visiting the exhibition and throwing back a few glasses of white wine, I felt like standing on a soap box with my megaphone in the middle of some prestigious Ivy League university shouting, “A revolution is at hand, death to the corporate oligarchy!” However, I came to my senses after realizing I hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and soon there after went to bed. Alas, my new world order will have to wait for another rainy day.
