F A L L I N G D O M I N O S

Transcription

1 BUSTER SIMPSON F A L L I N G D O M I N O S 1

2 BUSTER SIMPSON FALLING DOMINOS Security fence, Antoni Gaudi. Casa Batlló, Barcelona, Spain. Front cover: Falling Dominos (Detail), Glass, silicone. 45 x 26 x 38. Artist s studio, Seattle, WA. Mock up for Making our Mark: Art by Pratt Teaching Artists, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue WA by Buster Simpson. All rights reserved. All photos by Buster Simpson except where noted. Design: Buster Simpson Layout and copy editing: Todd Metten Printed and bound by Magcloud. Orders, inquiries, and correspondence: buster@bustersimpson.net Defensive Armor Wall, Buster Simpson. Glass, concrete. 15" x 60" x 8". Pratt Art Center, Seattle, WA. Acknowledgments Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY Glass Art Society, Seattle, WA Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood WA Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland OR Pratt Fine Art Center, Seattle, WA Spectrum Glass, Woodinville, WA Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA and the glass artists of the Salish Sea Region Domino Glass House Of Cards, 1981 // Falling Dominos, 2017 Domino Glass House Of Cards, 1981, constructed of stained glass, combines two metaphors into a precarious match: a house of cards and falling dominos. Fabricated at the Pratt Fine Art Center in 1981, the piece was first exhibited at Seattle Center in conjunction with the Glass Art Society Annual Conference. In 1985, Domino Glass House of Cards was reinstalled as part of a one-person show, From the Crystal Plumb, at the Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland, OR. Each of the domino cards consists of two sheets of stained glass, one clear and one translucent white. A consistent amount of black silicon adhesive was applied to the glass then the two sheets were pressed together to form a bond as well create the black dots of the dominos. In 2017, four stained glass cards from the Domino Glass House of Cards, were repurposed to create Falling Dominos. This installation was created for a group show, Making our Mark: Art by Pratt Teaching Artists, a commemorative exhibition celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pratt, exhibited at the Bellevue Arts Museum. Glass House of Cards (Beige-à vu Edition), 1981 In 1981, Glass House of Cards (Beige-à vu Edition) was presented at the Pratt Fine Art Center hot shop as a deconstruction performance. The performance was concurrent with the Glass Art Society Annual Conference and included Lark Dalton, Charles Parriott, Buster Simpson, Therman Stratum, and Toots Zynsky. Spectrum Glass donated a rejected run of beige colored stained glass for the performance. The banal color suggested a signifier of the time. The beige shard detritus resulting from the orchestrated collapse of the Glass House of Cards was gathered and imbedded into wet concrete to suggest protectionist defensive wall armor. This project was a forerunner of the Shard Cornice series. Shard Cornice, 2000 // 2005 // 2016 Shard Cornice, first exhibited at the Henry Art Museum courtyard in 2000 and later at the Bellevue Arts Museum in 2005, Taking Shape: Pilchuck Glass School in the 70s. In that show, repurposed glass shards were gleaned from Seattle area glass artists cullet and discards and dumpsters. These shards were then imbedded into concrete missionary units to create a wall top armored deterrent. Using the opulent, seductive quality of glass, a conundrum of look but don t touch. The contradiction of both Shard Cornice and the Domino Glass House of Cards recalls the graffiti the urge to consume terrorizes. In 2016, Shard Cornice became part of the permanent collection of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York. Incidence, 2002 Incidence, installed in 2002, at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. The installation responded to the phenomena of light and to the structural geometry and cladding of the adjacent large Fibonacci shingled burn cone designed by architect Arthur Erickson and Wyn Bielaska. Incidence consisted of a series of 4' x 8' tempered plate glass panes, arranged in a 120 long reflecting pool. The structure also draws from the earlier series Glass House of Cards, which was the original intent for Incidence. In 2017, the process has gone full circle in the form of a proposal to now repurpose the panes of glass from Incidence as glass cards to create a new 22' high Glass House of Cards, location to be determined. 2 3

3 Domino Glass House of Cards, Glass, silicone. 135" x 45" x 26". Image: Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland, OR, Falling Dominos, Glass, silicone. 45" x 26" x 38". Artist s studio, Seattle, WA. Mock up for Making our Mark: Art by Pratt Teaching Artists, Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue WA. 4 5

4 Glass House of Cards (Beige-à vu Edition), Glass. 135" x 45" x 26". View during deconstruction performance at the Pratt Art Center, 1981, in conjunction with the Glass Art Society Conference. Performers included Lark Dalton, Charles Parriott, Buster Simpson, Therman Stratum, and Toots Zynsky. Photo by Pratt Art Center. 6 Glass House of Cards (Beige-à vu Edition), Glass. 135" x 45" x 26". View of completed structure. Pratt Art Center, Seattle, WA. Photo by Pratt Art Center. 7

5 Glass House of Cards (Beige-à vu Edition), Glass. 135" x 45" x 26". View of Torricelli s trumpet producing sound at a resonating frequency in order to vibrate the friction connection of the glass, inducing collapse. Pratt Art Center, Seattle, WA. Photo by Pratt Art Center. 8 Glass House of Cards (Beige-à vu Edition), Glass. 135" x 45" x 26". Contact sheet views of performance. Pratt Art Center, Seattle, WA. Photo by Pratt Art Center. 9

6 Gathering Beige-à vu Shards for Defensive Armor Wall, Glass, concrete. 15" x 175" x 175". Gathering beige shards to be placed in wet concrete wall armor. Pratt Art Center, Seattle, WA. Photos by Pratt Art Center. 10 Defensive Armor Wall, Glass, concrete. 15" x 60" x 8". Beige shards and placed in wet wall armor. Pratt Art Center, Seattle, WA. 11

7 Shard Cornice, Concrete masonry units, glass shards, concrete. 96" x 160" x 96". Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA. Photo by Todd Metten 12 Shard Cornice (Detail), Concrete masonry units, glass shards, concrete. 96" x 160" x 96". Detail of glass shards imbedded into concrete masonry units. Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA. 13

8 Shard Cornice, Concrete masonry Units, glass shards, concrete. 78" x 165" x 128". View looking east. Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA. 14 Shard Cornice, Concrete masonry Units, glass shards, concrete. 78" x 165" x 128". View looking west. Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA. Photo by Bellevue Arts Museum. 15

9 Shard Cornice, Concrete masonry units, glass shards, concrete. 84" x 165" x 128". View from above. Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY. 16 Shard Cornice, Concrete masonry units, glass shards, concrete. 84" x 165" x 128". Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY. Photo by Corning Museum of Glass. 17

10 Incidence, Tempered plate glass, stainless steel, rubber, trex. 96" x 1440" x 60". Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. 18 Incidence, Tempered plate glass, stainless steel, rubber, trex. 96" x 1440" x 60". Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. 19

11 Proposal for Large Glass House of Cards, " x 102" x 48". Location to be determined. Concept rendering by Todd Metten. Incidence, Tempered plate glass, stainless steel, rubber, trex. 96" x 1440" x 60". Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. Photos by Wyn Bielaska (above) and Buster Simpson (below). 20 Back cover: Domino Glass House of Cards (Detail), Glass, silicone. 135 x 45 x 26. Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Portland, OR. 21

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