RACC Press Releases
January 7, 2005
Time on the Couch
a temporary installation
January 24-February 18, 2005
The Regional Arts & Culture Council presents the temporary installation,
Time on the Couch, by Portland artist, Anne Thompson,
in the Portland Building lobby installation space, January 24-February
18, 2005. The Portland Building, located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue, is
open to the public from 7am - 6pm, Monday through Friday.
As a professional upholsterer, Anne Thompson found herself faced with the
task of reupholstering a client’s antique psychiatrist couch. Upon removing
the threadbare, leather-like fabric (and hundreds of buttons) from the couch,
Thompson wondered about the numerous people that had spent time reclining
on it. After pondering the "skin" of this piece of furniture, she
decided to create a homage to the previous occupants of the couch. The reworked
"couch", mounted on the wall and no longer accessible for reclining,
now has digital photos printed on the salvaged upholstery fabric suggesting
a recumbent human figure, along with a newly built frame and a mismatched
set of salvaged furniture feet adorning the couch’s perimeter. Other
elements in the installation reference the Rorschach method of psychological
projection testing. Though the validity of this method has been debated for
decades, the inkblot remains a universal symbol for psychology. The installation
is a celebration of human diversity and individuality and suggests that there
are endless possibilities when it comes to the human character.
Thompson’s work has been included in the recent 21 Years of Studios:
Friends of Carton Service, an exhibition of previous tenants of artists’
studio lessor Ken Unkeles/Carton Service; Craft Biennial ’03
at the Oregon College of Art and Craft; Art About Agriculture at
Oregon State University in 2002; and Made for Interiors, an exhibit
of art furniture at the Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene. Her previous exhibit
in the Portland Building Installation Space, Pleasure vs. Duty, was in 1996.
Background
Sponsored by the Regional Arts & Culture Council since 1994, the Installation
Art Series at the Portland Building invites the general public to re-examine
its expectations and definitions of art, encourage dialogue about the role
of art in public spaces, and provide artists with alternative exhibition space
for their work. Artists to be featured through June 2005 are Sarah Wolf Newlands,
Rachel Denny, and the team of Brenda Mallory and Fei Disbrow. For more information,
contact RACC at 503.823.5111.
Through vision, leadership and service the Regional Arts
& Culture Council works to integrate arts and culture in all aspects of
community life.
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RACC Staff to Contact
Jeff Hawthorne
Director of Community Affairs
503.823.5258
jhawthorne@racc.org
Mary Bauer
Communications Associate
503.823.5426
mbauer@racc.org
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