Continuing through February 29, 2020
Naama Tsabar installation of performative sculptures, “Inversions,” includes pieces from an ongoing series. Geometric shapes are fashioned from thick colored felt that cascades off the wall. These pieces are a melding of minimalist Robert Morris’ early felt sculpture and that of Ellsworth Kelly’s carefully calibrated geometric paintings. We are invited to play each piece by plucking piano strings that criss-cross the soft surfaces, turning them into musical instruments. When activated, the gallery space comes alive with sound and alters the way the sculpture is seen.
Scattered within the gallery are both floor and wall mounted speakers. Hidden microphones are connected to amplifiers that make the atonal sounds resonate to fill the gallery space. Some of the pieces, such as “Transition,” are intricately wired and contain knobs, circuit boards and an amp grill cloth that makes them devices that control sound. Sadly, it cannot be touched and activated like the felt works. Embedded within the walls are two pieces, “Inversion #1” and “Inversion #2,” that deconstruct and then reconstruct the wood, strings and plastic elements from guitars, harps, banjos and violins. We are allowed to enter the in-between spaces to fondle and play the disembodied instrument. While the end result might be more lighthearted fun than a serious critique, Tsabar's interventions are a rich confluence of minimalist, feminist and performance art.
