2/2/2000
Kidspace
Mass MoCA, North Adams
Imagine a world where you trip over E. Coli, stare into the eyes of giant insects, and come face to face with the pesticides that cling to your food. You have now entered the world of Christy Rupp. Since the 1970s, this prolific artist has been creating sculpture that makes invisible hazards, like pollution and the results of genetic engineering, visible. "Swimming in the Gene Pool"-the inaugural exhibition of Kidspace @ MASS MoCA-includes Rupp's sculptures of water creatures, viruses, bacteria, and her newest work, genetically engineered insects and "labels" for genetically altered food. With this sculpture, Rupp makes a powerful case that in the world around us things are not always what they seem.
Imagine a world where you trip over E. Coli, stare into the eyes of giant insects, and
come face to face with the pesticides that cling to your food. You have now entered
the world of Christy Rupp. Since the 1970s, this prolific artist has been creating
sculpture that makes invisible hazards, like pollution and the results of genetic
engineering, visible. "Swimming in the Gene Pool"-the inaugural exhibition of
Kidspace @ MASS MoCA-includes Rupp's sculptures of water creatures, viruses,
bacteria, and her newest work, genetically engineered insects and "labels" for
genetically altered food. With this sculpture, Rupp makes a powerful case that in the
world around us things are not always what they seem.
Eleven of Rupp's new sculptures depict what she calls genetically engineered
insects-fantastic creatures that focus our attention on the unseen and potentially
dangerous consequences of genetic engineering. Take a look at "Switched," a bug
fashioned of welded steel and delicate, earth-colored papers. The insect's "parts" are
in place, but Rupp has made an incongruous addition: in its thorax, between the head
and abdomen, Rupp has inserted a light switch. This part insect/part machine is a
three-dimensional metaphor for the process by which resistance in crops such as
corn, potatoes, and soybeans "can be switched on with [the] application of different
chemical sprays." As crops are "turned on," weeds and other natural pests are
stamped out, but, as Rupp shows us, this seemingly advanced procedure may have
unseen side effects. With the flip of a switch, man may have the power to alter an
entire species. Rupp leaves it for us to decide whether this species will be illuminated
or eliminated once the switch has been flipped.
What is really in the food we buy at the supermarket and eat at home? Christy Rupp's
container and label series reveal what most food packaging conceals, alluding to what
we can't see and just maybe to what we aren't supposed to know. Her store-bought
plastic food containers say "Randomly Mutating Food," "Anti-aging Vegetable" and
"Weapons Grade Seed Stock." "Thank you for taking part in our experiment" says it
most clearly. We are the unwitting participants in agribusiness's grand science
project.
Now close your eyes; can you see the evil menaces that cause your sore throat, your
fever, or your flu symptoms? Once again Christy Rupp is working with the invisible-or
in this case the microscopic-and making it visible. In Smallpox and E. Coli, two
among many other colorful sculptures of viruses and bacteria, Rupp combines the
imaginary and the scientific. Out from under the microscope, it is hard to believe that
these beautiful pathogens can make us so sick!
Also swimming in the Kidspace pool are water
creatures-sculptures of fish, turtles, and
horseshoe crabs. In Red Tide, two sea turtles are
stuffed with red Tide bottles and fight to survive
the pollution they embody. In Fish and H2O
Molecule, a school of brook trout swims around a
giant molecule-2 parts hydrogen, one part
oxygen. Here Rupp has enlarged the microscopic
to the point where it looms over the fish that
depend on it, leading us to wonder just how safe
this water really is. These sculptures make tangible the often unseen threats posed to
marine life, reminding us once again that what we can't see may cause the most
harm to living creatures.
Kidspace @ MASS MoCA is a child-centered art gallery where artistic excellence and
educational experience are equally and emphatically presented. A collaboration
between the Williams College Museum of Art, the Sterling & Francine Clark Art
Institute, and MASS MoCA, the Kidspace consortium is eager to expand the role that
the art museum can play in the life of its community. Through programming that
encourages students to view, analyze, and create art, this project aims to expand
young people's knowledge about artists and art making, and to foster interpretation
and communication skills. In its pilot year, all schoolchildren in North Adams, MA, will
visit Kidspace, and their teachers will work closely with Kidspace staff. Kidspace is
also open to the public.
MASS MoCA 87 Marshall Street North Adams, Massachusettes 01247 413.MOCA.111