Components of The Big Nothing - P.A.W. Print

Ingrid Schaffner

The works of Andy Warhol, Yves Klein, Richard Prince and Louise Lawler, among a multitude of other artists at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) will be exhibited at ICA as part of the city-wide The Big Nothing initiative (a conceptual collaboration of programs and projects by 36 Philadelphia museums, galleries, science centers and performing arts venues, organized by ICA). By focusing on this anything-but-empty subject, ICA's curators have compiled works by artists from the 1970's to the present that attempt to present Nothing… in many of its forms.

The Big Nothing is a demonstration of nothing and nothingness in contemporary art, which is no small feat to display successfully in a gallery. ICA co-curators Ingrid Schaffner, Bennett Simpson and Whitney-Lauder Fellow Tanya Leighton present this idea in multiple contexts using the frameworks of consumer culture, cosmology, whimsical and negation. Chosen media for presentation of nothing in concrete forms include photographs, film, manuscripts, manifestos, and other forms of nothing.

Ingrid Schaffner, explaining that this show is her brainchild, said, "After doing Deep Storage, a show about art that put everything in, I wanted to do its opposite, a show about art that reduces and eliminates. The Big Nothing [represents] the impulse to empty out and erase, [and] is the flip side of Deep Storage, the impulse to store, collect. Or, you might say collecting is about filling the void. The two compliment each other and form a kind of binary whole."

The exhibition takes up the entire first floor gallery, part of the second floor and includes a spreading of displayed artifacts from various happenings regarding this null subject matter: a wall of black and white paintings, a giant black knot in the center of the room and a viewing box that forces the viewer to confront him/herself among a world of bright lights and mirrors. There even is the presence of a void in the main gallery, in which it is difficult to hear human voices at all times due to the dead spots that interfere with the building's acoustics.

This comprehensive exhibition challenges us to consider this complicated topic, which is overwhelming to attempt to digest during a single visit. It is a conglomeration of modern artifacts that force us to confront our own perceptions. Empty spaces compel the viewer to examine not only that which is not there, but also what could be set in place of nothing.

One of Yves Klein's works mentioned in this exhibition, is a work he created in 1958 involving a gallery painted white, entitled, Le Vide (The Void.) Nothing was hung on the walls, nothing was in the air, but his statement came across clearly: this was a presentation of nothing, which, in itself, is something weighty to consider. Of course, there were some disappointed gallery-goers who were expecting more material by which they could become visually stimulated.

There is a photograph of Andy Warhol posing as an Invisible Sculpture (March, 1985) in which Warhol attempts to blend into the wall. Standing on a pedestal with a flat facial expression, Warhol adds to the humor of this portrait with his name written on a label that is placed next to where he is standing. Wearing all black, he stands in front of a white wall pretending to be invisible. The irony of this photograph is that while he wants to be regarded as invisible, he is filling the space with himself.

In The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, the artist wrote, "So on the one hand I really believe in empty spaces, but on the other hand, because I'm still making some art, I'm still making junk for people to put in their spaces that I believe should be empty: i.e. I'm helping people waste their space when what I really want to do is help them empty their space." The Big Nothing expands beyond the walls of ICA, spreading out to various corners of Philadelphia with other participating organizations, including The Fabric Workshop and Museum, the Mutter Museum, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Pig Iron Theatre Company.

Leighton mentions some not-to-miss highlights. "The black holes archives at the American Philosophical Society seem to have aroused everyone's interest, including my own. I guess the idea of free-falling into orbit never ceases to capture the imagination! The Philadelphia Museum's labels on 'nothing,' in works such as Brancusi's Bird in Space or Duchamp's 50cc of Paris Air, will provide an important historical backbone to the overall project… For a truly hallucinatory experience, there is the legendary Flicker film by Tony Conrad and Paul Sharits' N:O:T:H:I:N:G, which are a must." Sharit's film is showing at International House, at 37th and Chestnut Streets.

Evidently, there is no shortage of nothing at plenty of Philadelphia arts venues in which one can see Nothing…, and lots of nothing to discuss. The range of exhibition spaces, venues, and media shows the expansiveness of the subject of Nothing ...

Leighton said, "[I am] impressed by the diversity and creativity of everyone's interpretation of nothing-- not to mention their enthusiasm and goodwill in working collaboratively. The fact that everyone has worked harmoniously together is a great indicator of the support and respect that everyone has for each other in this community. That has really been one of the most telling and gratifying aspects of pulling this venture together."

For more information on The Big Nothing, call ICA at (215) 898-5911 or visit www.icaphila.org. ICA is located at 118 South 36th Street.