Those who remember, and wandered close to, the lumbering metal beast Chico MacMurtrie and the Amorphic Robot Works assembled in Wood Street Galleries in 2005 may breathe a little easier when approaching the collaborative's recent work.
As "Too Big Dog Monkey" was clunky and wedded to the ground, MacMurtrie's latest, pneumatically activated sculpture is airy and almost free-floating. They share, however, a driven inquiry into the human form and how it interacts with its environment, at times on a straightforward bones-and-joints level and at others metaphorically.
"Inflatable Architectural Body," a network of long sailcloth tubes and spherical joiners that looks a bit like a molecular model run amok, hangs from the ceiling, its sensors awaiting a visitor.
The motion begins with breathy twitters and clucking through air hoses, advancing to shuddering throughout the piece as segments expand and withdraw, puff and buckle. It is the ultimate in interactive experience, the viewer truly driving the artwork, and, by extension, being reminded of the impact each has upon his or her space, near, national and global.
"Sixteen Birds" comprises a gracefully curved row of suspended forms that, at a distance, call to mind the checkmark- shaped birds children draw. Each is made of two joined, several-foot-long cones of the same sailcloth (used on America's Cup yachts) that, when hanging limply, have an arachnoid aura; when pumped with air, they suggest winged creatures in flight, or a row of upside-down dancers in wide kick to split position.
Here, MacMurtrie ups the engagement ante, making the visitor a player who can, when encroaching too much, disrupt an individual bird's program and "trigger a death cycle" that can spread to the others. Only by respecting the birds' space may the visitor witness the entire performance.
As with so much contemporary art, the longer one stays with the work, the more it reveals.
Wood Street, a project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, continues to enjoy a dedicated following, particularly among the young. Sixty percent of visitors are between the ages of 18 and 30, gallery curator Murray Horne says.
"It's the audience for tomorrow, and I think it's really exciting. All these kids have grown up with computers and interactive games . . . [Their approach] is sort of fearless. They're not intimidated by the culture, not intimidated by the artwork."
Horne cites several examples of Wood Street shows being sent out onto the Internet by this audience. "Google 'ZEE[RANGE] Pittsburgh' (the gallery's last exhibition) and you'll find some fantastic blogs."
But Horne is equally concerned about providing experiences that "resonate with people" of all ages, including Downtown workers who come during lunch breaks and families who come during holiday breaks. "There are things that are memorable and have an impact. And they change people."
The exhibition continues through April 3 at 601 Wood St. (take the elevator to the second and third floors). Admission is free. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m Friday and Saturday. Information: call 412-471-5605 or visit www.WoodStreetGalleries.org.
Down the block, at SPACE, one of the three other Cultural Trust galleries that Horne oversees, is "America's Favorite Architecture," large photographs of 150 structures selected during a national, public poll conducted by the American Institute of Architects on the occasion of its sesquicentennial.
The Empire State Building, New York City, designed by architect William Lamb and completed in 1931, topped the list, followed by the White House (James Hoban); Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. (George Frederick Bodley and Henry Vaughan); Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C. (John Russell Pope); Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco (Irving F. and Gertrude C. Morrow); U.S. Capitol (William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch and Thomas Walter); Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. (Henry Bacon); Biltmore Estate, Asheville, N.C. (Richard Morris Hunt); Chrysler Building, NYC (William Van Alen); and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C. (Maya Lin) in the top 10.
The structures -- including hotels, museums, sports arenas, homes and corporate headquarters -- were chosen by 1,804 randomly selected Americans from a list pre-selected by an AIA panel. New York City was most represented, with 32 structures, followed by Washington, D.C. with 17 and Chicago's 16.
The World Trade Center, destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack, remained in memory at #19. Locally, Fallingwater (29) and the Allegheny County Courthouse (35) made the cut.
Photographs of 25 worthy local buildings not on the national list are displayed and a video shows "Pittsburgh Placemakers."
Information provided about the 150 works is sparse, but among several interesting notations are that Daniel Chester French sculpted the Lincoln within the memorial, that Maya Lin's is the highest-ranking project designed by a woman, and that Darth Vader's likeness animates one of Gothic Revival Washington Cathedral's many grotesques.
"Favorite" continues through March 14 at 812 Liberty Ave. Admission is free. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Information: 412-325-7723 or visit www.SpacePittsburgh.org.
First Published: February 11, 2009, 10:00 a.m.
