Evocative Objects at Play in Really, Apparently

Have you ever seen that show on Netflix, The Toys That Made Us? It is what I thought of

when I saw Really, Apparently at Front/Space. The series goes through some of the most

collectible of toys and trends throughout the decades. The objects are collectibles while also

being documents of play. People hold onto these objects like precious memories. In Bobby

Haulotte and Kylie McConnell’s exhibition at Front/Space, they reveal an overwhelming and

amusing display, that speaks to the need to hold onto that playful spirit.

The return to childhood through vibrant colors, diverse textures and busy patterns scattered

around the room at Front/Space create an atmosphere thick with nostalgic energy and 90’s

vibes. From the moire patterned windows, dayglow paintings, neon paper fences, and a kind

of playpen still life in the corner of the gallery, the color of the objects resemble the earliest

Nickelodeon game shows. Parts of pLAnT pArTY, IMG_0714.jpg, and the Fluctuating Still

Life, are made up of seemingly random clutter, including toys, plants, and construction

material. This exhibition is optimistic in its brightness and exuberance, but questions what it

means to mine the materials of playrooms and construction sites and put them in one place.

By aligning objects, there is emphasis on escaping into imagination. I half expected to get

slimed at some point.

Photo of Fluctuating Still Life. Image courtesy of Patricia Bordallo Dibildox

An interactive still life planted in the corner of the gallery allows others to hang onto this

nostalgia while asking for participation. The still life holds materials commonly found as parts

of buildings, pink styrofoam, concrete, wood, and carpet pads. It is understandable that these

objects act as materials to build the still life and perhaps stand in as toys. There is something

much more magical and playful as the carpet pieces lay on the floor around; these act as

parts of play mats and kindergarten rugs. There were moments that the rugs were lost in the

chaos of the still life as it was rearranged by young and old, but the effect of the parts of the

exhibition blending into itself left me realizing how easily we tune in and out of our

surroundings.

The collaboration is site for an imaginative curation from the viewer. The artists have

gathered up their individual objects of inspiration for this resourceful still life that emphasize

the preciousness of these discarded scraps. This jubilantly exaggerated exhibition left room

for imagination. What is shared is a message that speaks about the desire to hold onto these

scraps of those before us, and maybe it is our duty to make something new. There is a

practical purpose in the way others are encouraged to play, and there is a kind of

construction happening too.

Photos of Fluctuating Still Life, rearranged

Photos of Fluctuating Still Life, rearranged

Thinking about an essay written by Sherry Turkle, “What Makes An Evocative Object?” Turkle

examines Bricolage, a style of working in which one manipulates a closed set of materials to

develop new thoughts, and how this aids in giving objects their ability to connect with affective

potential. Art does this, but toys do too. Through manipulating time, as if by role playing a moment

disjointed from our own world, we can still find connections that explain the desire to reinvent.

Our understanding of this desire is systematized by the surrounding societal norms, and thus, by

making and by playing, the deeper questions are mined to expand it.

The desire to be in control can be born out of feeling stuck or perhaps wedged between the

trauma of the past and the changes that come with the future. But the coming future, which

seems to capitalize on shock, is crafted by the instances where escaping became conviction.

Coming back to the exhibition, and seeing the interaction of children with the work and the

sweet curiosity and enamor with construction, I believe there is something optimistic about

the past and the context millennials are organizing, that artists are mining, to foster a brighter

future.

Photo of Select/Delete/Repeat and Fences by Kylie McConnell, and Window Pair by Bobby Haulotte.

Courtesy of Zane Smith.

Really, Apparently is on view at Front/Space through Friday June 29th 2018 by appointment.

To see the exhibition, email 18th.frontspace@gmail.com