Review of Reuben Lorch-Miller at Rocksbox Fine Art
by John Motley
October 28, 2010
What do DIY culture, Minimalist sculpture and peering into the vast expanse of the cosmos have to do with one another? As the sculptures and collages created by Brooklyn artist Reuben Lorch-Miller during a two-week residency at Rocksbox assert, there is a riddling through-line.
The work itself is assiduously understated, flaunting the relative disposability of its modest materials.
Throughout the gallery, a series of grayish unfired clay sculptures are displayed on pristine white plinths. Each is composed of a few conjoined slabs of clay, mostly uniform in their geometric rigidity, save the occasional jutting triangle or rough tear.
Though they conjure the stark aesthetics of Minimalist sculpture, there is no specific reference to observe.
Instead, their blocky sections -- which might be likened to primitive architectural models -- are intended to relate to the similarly gridded compositions of his collage work.
Made from cut-up photocopies, Lorch-Miller's collages depict monolithic sculptures hovering weightlessly in glinting star fields.
In "One Eyed Martyr" (2010), the artist cobbles together a two-dimensional obelisk using swatches of different patterns to approximate the varying textures of stone. The top of the statue, bathed in an auratic gloriole, imbues the figure with an aura of spirituality, as well as a little sci-fi camp.
Ultimately, Lorch-Miller's choice of materials unlocks the meaning of these sphinxlike artifacts. The collages, made with the same rudimentary cut-and-paste techniques of early punk zines, telegraph an urgent desire to document the present, even if the limited production values of that documentation ensure it won't last long. The sculptures make this point rather poetically.
Because Lorch-Miller stopped short of firing the clay, these pieces will crack, crumble and return to earth over time. That is, they are beset by the same crisis we are: relegated to a bracketed segment of infinity.
In this light, the divergent strategies the artist activates -- DIY culture, Minimalism -- can be seen as parallel endeavors. Indeed, all artistic movements, regardless of historical and theoretical specifics, strive for the basic goal of leaving behind a remnant truth, whether it alters the course of time or simply reverts to dust.