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February 1, 2008 – April 18, 2008 Jonathan Gabel, "Warsong: Iliad Cenotaphs" Joseph Kohnke, "Marked" International Museum of Surgical Science 1524 N. Lake Shore Dr. Chicago, IL 60610 312.642.6502 info@imss.org International Museum of Surgical Science: "Warsongs" and "Marked" Reviewed By Nicholas Alexander Hayes Amid the staid and august statues of historical physicians and the occasionally symbolic murals of surgical history, the antique x-ray cathodes and piles of geometric kidney stones seem to be the closest thing to non-teleological, non-programmatic art in the International Museum of Surgical Science. However on the fourth floor, the surgical museum has two galleries open to explore the current intersections of fine art and medical science. The juxtaposition of these two realms of human exploration imparts a humanity to the museum (which even photographs of little children with polio fail to do) while suffusing the art with a finer technical context than the pieces would have in a traditional setting. The staid statues and emotive murals may educate through a restrained passion; however they do not breathe as the current installations by Jonathan Gabel and Joseph Kohnke do. "Warsong: Iliad Ceontaphs" by Jonathan Gabel inverses the relationship between heroic body and heroic deed, between injury and weapon. Wooden models of arrows and spearheads dominate the room. Their blonde glow and playful reproduced quality suggest the innocence and charming futility of old timey toys (a wooden pop gun would not seem so out of place were these weapons elsewhere.) The blades do not retain the wood's cheery rawness since the blades have been painted with the Technicolor viscera described in battle scenes from the Iliad. History and literature are certainly at play with these posted quotes and art objects; however, just a few dozen feet away the museum informs the viewer that surgical science has been greatly advanced by battle. In this context, the recounting of legendary death and injury emphasizes that our health, well-being and longevity have been greatly advanced by the senseless slaughter of our ancestors and contemporaries. Joseph Kohnke's "Marked" does not give the viewer the playful or comfortable mythic distance from the body that "Warsongs" does. Instead the intricate machinery of "Marked" renders the surgical processes (idealized in the museum below) acute transgressions on the body that do not always save, that do not always work. Kohnke evokes his friend's death of skin cancer in his tripartite machine installation. The central segment of this device is part examination table and part player piano. A roll of photographed human skin travels over the table. Cancerous marks represented by holes in the print are read and disseminated to the other two pieces of the machine: a taxidermied fawn and a cast man in a fetal position. These holes signal lights on stalks to emerge from the deer. These lights twinkle highlighting the safe innocence of its spots. It is marked for protection, for survival; variance in skin pigmentation is sign of its youth, of its full potential. However, the male curled in the corner does not sparkle. Subcutaneous spots glow a sickly pale neon. His crumbled form flashes areas of cancer; he is marked with disaster, his potential is spent. The uneasy balance of this work is echoed in the museum's uneasy balance of celebrating a science that tries to save life but eventually loses it. Ultimately these works would have significant implications outside the International Museum of Surgical Science. But within its walls they reverberate with a clarified significance about the human animal. |
CHICAGO CONTEMPORARY ART MAGAZINE |