Jason Foumberg

Trench warfare has never been so safe and clean as it is in Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla's new collaborative artwork, "Wake Up." It's difficult to say what today's "real" wars should look like from an artistic perspective; we've heard that it can be as antiseptic as a video game, but undoubtedly it is a bloody and putrid affair for the fallen. Besides, not many aesthetes are reporting from the front lines. So, Allora and Calzadilla's war trench, a jagged insurmountable barrier, does not serve to represent the heart or guts of the matter, but is instead an expression of the civilian or viewer's perspective. In "Wake Up," there is a bodily sense of being pulled around and through a trench, trying to find out what the fiery fluttering light show might be (bombs?) and why there is a deep grumbling noise in the air--the war machine churning its victims? The point is that there is no climax or moment of revelation here; anxiety and anticipation are sustained indefinitely. "Wake Up" is not a call to arms--it is rather a refueling station for our apprehensions about war. These feelings are elusive because the war is hidden "over there." The scary part isn't the death, but how easy it is to ignore.

Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla shows at the Rennaissance Society, 5811 South Ellis Avenue, Cobb Hall, (773)702-8670. Through April 15. (2007-04-03)

Also by Jason Foumberg

Portrait of the Artist
Michael x. Ryan has been stalking himself for many years. Like an anthropologist in the field, Ryan has charted his lines of movement in and throughout the cities of Chicago, Manhattan and Krems, Austria. The products of Ryan's pursuits usually take on the form of scientific documentation, such as statistical charts or maps
(2007-03-06)

Gallery of Gallerists
Partners in business and in marriage, Ryan Schulz, 30, and Jodi Navta, 32, opened an art gallery in rural Wisconsin several years ago with the foresight that they would eventually bring it to Chicago. Now celebrating its one-year anniversary in Chicago, NavtaSchulz Gallery, located beneath the green line El tracks on West Lake Street, is gaining a reputation as a reliable tastemaker due to its directors' dedication to talented artists
(2007-02-27)

Tip of the Week
As you enter Max King Cap's "video opera" installation, a booming voice from a darkened corner spouts an abstruse narrative full of symbols and cryptograms
(2007-02-20)

Portrait of the Artist
Like any good (or great) Minimalist work of art, Fred Sandback's sculptures emit an air of ease; they're easy on the eyes, quite possibly easily made, and once you "get it," easily enjoyed
(2007-01-30)

Tip of the Week
(2007-01-30)

Portrait of the Artist
(2006-12-19)

Tip of the Week
(2006-12-19)

Portrait of an Artist
(2006-12-12)

Tip of the Week
(2006-11-07)

Tip of the Week
(2006-10-10)

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