machine dazzle, gracelee lawrence with kiwi phong nguyen at wasserman projects/works
Soft Serve
“Known for his extravagantly avant-garde costume design, Machine Dazzle will create an immersive and site specific installation based on looks from his future psyche-sex-adelic synth rock theatre production Treasure. This work explores Machine’s relationship with his mother and serves as a foundation of experiences and beliefs established in the home. Considering architecture as our outermost garment to adorn, style, and reflect who we are, Machine will dress the interior of Wasserman Projects with his distinctive touch. Taking inspiration from nature and the tortoise shell as a protective garment, Machine will create a new series of wall based sculptures with a maximal layering of found and organic materials.”
The eye is immediately ensnared by dramatic, glittering scale and intense colorations of Treasure’s costumes. Once enveloped in the installation, it overwhelms the senses demanding examination of every detail. Wasserman Projects ingeniously incorporated 10 years of stripped vinyl billboards as the backdrop for flamboyant garments at home on set or catwalk.
Comparatively subdued, this intricate ensemble is classic Victorian with a modern twist. The piece comes to life in a film with actor and surroundings providing context.
Involved in a project which pulled waste from the Great Lakes, Machine became enthralled with turtle shells. Worn by their owner while also part of their body, they obscure what’s decorative and what’s necessary for survival.
In the space designated as WassermanWorks, Nguyen has invented a faux gift shop that could be a set straight out of Kubrick’s 2001. Blaring sterile white, one almost anticipates a computerized voice directing shoppers toward various merchandise. Displays use ordinary items like an outlet plate and brick lines to showcase notions like earrings and a brooch.
I did not capture images from Lawrence’s hybrid human/animal/plant 3D forms but trust they create the perfect segue between artists who consider how we live within the body and how we decorate, present without. This exhibition explores the ever-blurring line between technology and reality, what it means to be human and the ecological impact of our presence.
On view through December 14th at Wasserman Projects 3434 Russell #502 Detroit
*images are mine
direct quote from gallery materials
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