|
A&E |
|
 |
|
Art puts fresh spin on raw materials
The Advocate
“Construct,” a sculpture exhibit by David Drake, will be on display in the Visual Arts Gallery at Mt. Hood Community College through Oct. 23.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
An artist’s reception will be held Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
According to gallery coordinator and MHCC art instructor Nathan Orosco, “David does not like to fill the gallery space in a traditional way.” Drake was very particular about how the walls should be painted and where his pieces should be located, Orosco said.
A thick black stripe wraps around the walls of the exhibit. Black text sits upon the stripe. Drake uses “black-on-black text that requires close examination to be read.” Three of Drake’s “100 equivalent energies” are displayed.
Drake uses raw building materials like wood, concrete, and aluminum in his construction. “I build my pieces out of humble materials, recognizable as the sort of things a person would find at the Home Depot,” said Drake. Both of his large sculptures resemble houses. The first stands on stilts, and, according to Orosco, “the shape of the house resembles a return billing envelope, including the open window of the return address.”
The second sculpture is a flat and deflated aluminum mass until the observer walks too close, alarming the motion activator. It then begins to blow up into a boxy-house shape. A fan from the back blows air in, and light bulbs glow from the bottom. Light from the windows and 1960s pop color painted on the walls are reflected from all angles.
Inside a glass case are small models of Drake’s work. Working light bulbs sit inside concrete blocks; the light will never be seen, but the blocks will heat up if the bulbs are turned on.
The Advocate reserves the right to not publish comments based on their appropriateness.