Too Much Sea for Amateurs
Installed at the Haggerty Museum of Art, as part of the Mary L Nohl Fund Fellowship Exhibition, June 9-July 31, 2016
Too Much Sea for Amateurs (2016) investigates longing, loneliness, dependability, and the certainty of death: universal realities reflected in maritime culture. It presents the Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse, a visible yet inaccessible landmark of Milwaukee, as a symbol for the dysfunction of a contemporary urban life that prizes self-containment over camaraderie, isolation over obligation, and comfort over valor. I worked with a researcher from a nonprofit organization, Historic Milwaukee, to uncover compelling historical footnotes about the Lighthouse, the building upon which I based my billowing one-fifth scale sculpture. With her input I was able to draw inspiration from a newsworthy storm on October 22nd, 1929, which was violent enough to shake the twenty-inch thick concrete and steel walls.
From top to bottom, left to right:
Marooned, outdoor coated fabric, metal, light, speakers, 2016, 15’ x 12’ x 15’
The Storm of October 22, photographic documentation of performance with object, 2016, 24”x18”
Boon, marine vinyl, battery, metal, canvas, 2016, 30”x30”x42”
Capsize/Baptize, Installation view on the left, installation in use on the right, mixed media, 2016
It is the Outsider Who Thrills to the Significance of the Light-keepers Work, photographic documentation of performance with object, 2016
Photo credit for all images on this page: Claudine Nuetzel