Dario Robleto - Survival Does Not Lie in the Heavens

Our class visited the DSM Art Center again, this time to see Dario Robleto's show Survival Does Not Lie in the Heavens in the main gallery and to visit portions of the Meier wing that were closed due to construction the last time we were there.

Robletos's work is pretty fascinating to me, as I currently seem to be drawn down a path leading to more collaging and assemblage in my own work. Looking at his work online cannot possibly show what it is or how it is assembled. Most of them are filled with so many cut pieces of colored paper and hand-made Victorian paper flowers that the dimension in the pieces just can't be shown. I did find some detail shots of most of his work, but they were still straight on shots. If even one of those shots had been taken with some lighting off to the side, or a camera angle off to the side, I would have been able to make them out a little more clearly. My first impression on seeing them in person is that they look so sweet they make my teeth hurt. Literally. They are so sugary and dripping with emotions and ... pretty. Not that pretty is a bad thing, but it found I could not stand and admire them from a distance and enjoy them as a whole. I had to either look away or come so close to them so I could admire the details a short distance from my nose. The white one (Defiant Gardens) and red one (Sailors Valentines) shown on the right are examples of this kind of work.

Some of his other things are very appealing to me. I love the very historical items - the ones that are in cases that have the look and feeling of an antique casket. I really enjoy the pieces that have the very real appearance of something you might find in the Historical Building, or in the Smithsonian Institute of Antique-y Looking Cool Things From Victorian Times. His pieces that are in wooden cases with glass faces all have that same look and feel. I think I like those more because they do remind me so much more of a historical display than of an art museum.This octagon wall piece consisted of "glacially released petrified woolly mammoth tusks" and several smaller interior pieces that are Victorian hair breads, some of them inter-braided with '"glacially released woolly mammoth hair". Hmmm ... I have some "glacially released petrified bison tusks" hanging on my living room wall. Three of them, right by the front door. My mother-in-law gave them to us - they were from her grandmother's things. If they were hanging in a nice case with some other Victorian memorials, could I get a show with them?

The piece titled Violet Remedies was in such a large case with such an unusual shape to the case itself, I actually spent more time looking at the outside of the case than the pieces that were on display inside of the case.  I was trying to figure how it closed, and just what shape it would be when it was closed. The doors and lids were angled and the whole outside shape of the case was not square, it appeared to be kind of like a trapezoid-shaped unit, and that when the lid was closed, the lid itself would slant towards the front of the piece. Highly unusual and a fabulous creation all by itself. I did go back by that piece so I could look at what was on display on the inside of the case. They are arranged beautifully, but the gold text on those tiny glass vials was just too small for me to read them. The stanchions guarding us from getting too close to the piece, also kept me too far away for my old eyes to read what they said.

His installation piece titled Candles Un-burn, Suns Un-shine, Death Un-dies is a C-print installed on a curved wall. It is large and I would think the viewer has an unavoidable impression of being able to buy this collage of stars and lights with a planetary feel at the Science Center Gift Shop. It does not have the same historical impression as the other pieces in this show. It does not have any kind of "wow" factor for me. I think I "get it", I just don't think it's very cool or interesting. 

I liked his album-like assemblages, specifically because he did use actual parts of real album covers. That is so cool. I also liked these the most because of the sense of humor I could see in these. For example, in Tales of Theodicies, there was a juxtaposition of religion and prison and I thought there were several funny things in it. First was the phrase, "If a meteorite falls on your head, then God was aiming." Next was, "Praying for an Unselective Rapture". Some of these hit tunes were apparently sung by the The Dis-Harmony Choir. One of the things we were encouraged to contemplate was "Evil is a mystery we don't care to solve." And out of the blue in one corner was "Jail Block Chastity." Hilarious, I like this kind of campy, cheesy stuff to appear in the art museums I visit. Some people might not think that is art, but I think it is the best kind of art. It is funny and it is memorable.