“Prototype” at Mini Dutch announces itself as an exhibition of incomplete work. Compelling at first when considering the process of kinetic art-makers Michael Una, Robert Andrew Mueller and Mark Porter, the complexity of such a concept takes shape in a troubling way. Beginning with Mueller’s system of pneumatic muscles that pump away loudly and a bit awkwardly, one begins to understand that the work in the show is not so much about what’s there, but what could come next. Mueller has managed to successfully replicate semi-human movements albeit with a complex system involving an air compressor, a motor, and a series of brake cables. While it is a commendable achievement, this small success still leaves the viewer wanting. However, one could always argue, is that not the goal of the prototype? Therein lies the troubling futility of “Prototype.”
Mark Porter
If drawing seems a more natural form of prototype for the aesthetic realm, Mark Porter has confounded that notion by situating his drawings somewhere between the blueprint—simply meant to illustrate a design—and the autonomous finished product. His drawings do in fact read as blueprints in their layout, but their production and line quality look as if they were never meant to leave the studio, despite the artist’s signature hogging the page. What is brave about a show of prototypes, and what continues to fascinate in this show at Mini Dutch, is the potential for failure. Failure is rewarding, but is futility? (Tim Ridlen) Through January 25 at Mini Dutch, 3111 West Diversey, First Floor
Lost in Translation: A Review of Crip* at Gallery 400 The strongest works in the exhibition succinctly express the ways the artist relates to their own body while calling out how the artist’s body and body of work has been perceived or coded against norms or ideals.
