An imposing figure has a delicate, jumbled framework.
The lobby of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art was packed the night of Aug. 23, when Milwaukee-based artist Jason S. Yi debuted his site-specific installation A Fragile Permanence (through Nov. 9). From the top of MMoCA's main staircase, the crowd looked like a swarm of dots moving about at random, but up close it was clear that much of the movement had a purpose. There was lots of contemplative nodding, and several guests squirmed as they mustered up the courage to ask Yi a question during his talk.
Yi is also interested in the different perceptions that arise when viewing an object from afar, then up close. His work's not just about perspective, though. It examines the tension between order and chaos, strength and fragility. An untitled work in the lobby illuminates these contrasts. A lumpy mass made of bubble wrap and silver foil hangs over the viewer like a manmade cloud that's too heavy for the sky. It balances precariously on a pair of wooden triangles that seem too weak to hold it. The triangles are painted orange, as if to emphasize the threat of a falling object.
To the left of this sculptural piece is a set of four pegboards arranged to form a large square. From a distance, this work looks a bit like a window. It looks even more like a map. Spray-foam insulation is affixed to portions of the pegboards, bringing to mind a relief map of Antarctica. In the center of the piece are thin, pink contoured lines reminiscent of a topographic map, or even a fingerprint. The snowy-looking foam encroaches on the area the delicate lines inhabit.
According to Yi, the pegboards' holes are like a map's reference points. They attempt to give structure to an ever-changing landscape. In this case, the force of change seems stronger than the effort to constrain it.
The largest work in the exhibition is installed in the State Street Gallery. Strips of silver Mylar bolt across the walls as LEDs illuminate the space. A massive 3D form claims most of the gallery's floor space. Wrapped in duct tape and full of sharp angles, it's an imposing presence that looks like a mountain when viewed from the street.
The structure's insides tell a different story. Its "skeleton" is made of thin pieces of recycled wood. They form a jumble that looks a bit like a building that's been struck by a tornado. While constructing this object, Yi may have been pondering Wisconsin's tornado season, or perhaps Hurricane Katrina, which he mentioned in his talk.
"I saw a lot of images of devastation: former buildings, cars, pileups of construction materials," he said. "There was an uncontrolled landscape, and people were trying to cope with that. So many things were in flux."
Like a hurricane, Yi will tear down the exhibition in November, forcing museum visitors to adjust to another new landscape.
