On February 11, Min Song introduced a new collection of works entitled “Small-Scale Lifestyles 2,” the sixth installment in Happy Collaborationists’ Nostalgia series. Echoing Song’s concurrent exhibition of the same title (less numeration) at Trinity College’s Seerveld Gallery, the sculptural works situated within the Happy C’s are fabricated from consumer-grade construction material and amplify the ideological potential of modes of display by aggrandizing accessible hardware-store products including medium-density fibreboard, PVC pipes and socket cords. Song’s investigation into the translation of accessible material into elevated positions by way of exhibition is extended as explicitly domestic materials are included, most frequently vinyl kitchen tiling. The flimsy, low-cost tiles constitute the majority of the surfaces at Happy Collaborationists and Seerveld alike. The same tiled surfaces that resonate against the institutional backdrop of Seerveld Gallery, maintaining their tenacity while resting on an impartial concrete gallery floor, instead spill over into the domestic space of Happy Collaborationists and bend to the influence of the setting, its inhabitants and idiosyncrasies. Of no small consequence are the sites where these concurrent exhibitions are displayed, and an opportunity to view them in tandem has been thoughtfully provided. (Pat Elifritz)
Through February 29 at the Happy Collaborationists, 1254 North Noble
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