This year's piece, Remote Echoes of a Premature Past, is a re-creation of their debut installation, which was also the first work the artists did together. (They have written that their collaborative works are not by Colvin or Temple, but rather by a "Third Mind.")
Remote Echoes fills the front gallery, but just barely, as it's very sparely arranged. The first element, opposite the front door, is a grid of nine blue blazers hung from the ceiling (detail above). With the help of metal armature, the blazers are made to look as though they are being worn. But aside from their shape, there are no literal references to the body.
The next element is a metal coffin surrounded by four lengths of plastic pipe, beyond which is a found door frame filled with hats and bracketed by a pair of wrought-iron railings. This composition is mounted on the wall; on the floor in front of it sit old, faded bowling balls. The enigmatic scene is completed by a pair of wall-hung mantle clocks sans the clockworks and a picture frame without a picture. Apparently, Remote Echoes is about life and death.
In the Associates' space in the back is another installation, Stay, by Carin Rodenborn. This piece includes a series of square pine boards, some painted and some with found objects -- mostly natural materials like twigs and seed pods -- attached. In the center are a chair and a table, both covered with river rocks.
Finally, in the ILK @ Pirate room is Bill Brazzell: recent work. Brazzell's compositions are geometric abstractions; many of them are taped paintings (some of which still have pieces of tape attached). They are post-minimal, in that they are both hard-edged -- nominally, at least -- and painterly. Especially nice are the earthy colors Brazzell uses.
The two Pirate exhibits close this weekend; the ILK show has an indefinite run.
