Relay

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Artist/Maker Rob Fischer (American, born 1968)

Date2006

MediumReclaimed wood, with traces of paint, and steel

DimensionsOverall: 84 × 83 × 68 in. (213.4 × 210.8 × 172.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of E. M. Bakwin, Class of 1950

Object number2012.3.5

Not on view

DescriptionThe artist Rob Fischer, born and raised in the Midwest but now based in Brooklyn, New York, uses discarded and reclaimed materials to create large-scale sculptures, installations, and sculptural environments. His interest lies in the use and disuse of vernacular materials: the life cycle of uncherished objects. One of his preferred motifs is, quite literally, a Dumpster. Relay belongs to a series of works created from salvaged building materials, such as the floorboards of a school gymnasium that compose this work; the artist reassembles and reconstructs such materials to form “murals” that wrap around the edges of walls. By reconstituting a surface that is usually taken for granted in such a way that it asserts itself and draws viewers’ attention to the architectural space in which they themselves stand, Fischer reveals the complexities and simple beauty of everyday objects. In this case, the configuration of the boards also calls to mind both the multilane highways that crisscross the country—evoking aspects of the iconic American road trip and the culture of the road, with its evocation of freedom, lawlessness, and self-discovery (Fischer often incorporates parts of cars, pickup trucks, and mobile homes into his works)—and the fiber-optic cables that carry data on the information superhighway that is the internet. The title of the present work, Relay, suggests the type of activity conducted on the gym floor in its prior existence—in which teams raced one another, each member covering a segment of the course—but also alludes to the nearly instantaneous transmission of information around the world, a phenomenon that is making so much of traditional American vernacular culture obsolete. (SOURCE: Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS, 2017)

Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2017
Clinton, NY (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College). "Innovative Approaches, Honored Traditions: The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Five Years, Highlights from the Permanent Collection," September 9 - December 10, 2017 (cat. no. 124, illus.).

Provenance 2012: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College), by gift of E.M. Bakwin;
? - 2012: E.M. Bakwin, by purchase from the artist.

Markings None noted.

Published References Katherine D. Alcauskas, INNOVATIVE APPROACHES, HONORED TRADITIONS: THE RUTH AND ELMER WELLIN MUSEUM OF ART AT FIVE YEARS, HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PERMANENT COLLECTION (Clinton, NY: Wellin Museum of Art, 2017), p. 270.

Signature Not signed.

Inscribed None noted.