CALAMITREES AND OTHER WORK:

A Site-Specific Installation

submitted by Montserrat College of Art

When I originally asked New Orleans-based artist Sally Heller to come to Montserrat College of Art for a solo exhibition and to serve as the Fall 2005 Artist-in-Residence, I intended to display a number of pieces that I saw at the New Orleans Contemporary Art Center in May of 2004. Hanging By A Thread (2004), the Wall of Balls (2001) and an intriguing series of wallpaper already had places on my checklist. While discussing the exhibition’s possibilities, Heller mentioned that she would like to create a new piece in collaboration with Montserrat students. Her visit promised an exciting opportunity for students to work alongside a professional artist.

Faced with Hurricane Katrina, Heller was suddenly forced to evacuate her home and lost access to all of her possessions, including nearly all artwork slated for the Montserrat exhibit. At the time, I was afraid to ask if she was still planning to travel to Beverly, as her health and family’s well-being was much more important than the exhibit scheduled to open in two weeks. In spite of the chaos, Heller was determined to not only still visit Montserrat, but to create an elaborate new piece to fill the gallery in its entirety. A great opportunity and a tremendous challenge for the artist and college, we were faced with the daunting task of creating nearly an entire exhibition from scratch.

Calamitrees:
As busy hands tangled yarn, pipe cleaners, fabric and plastic toys into bright, complex knots, artistic instinct and hard work transformed piles of junk into complex, elegant sculptures tailored to the Montserrat Gallery space. Heller’s large quantities of ordinary materials-mostly low-end mass-produced consumer goods—were of little aesthetic or artistic value to us prior to this project. Heller simultaneously embraces craft (pipe cleaners, wool, string, beads, pingpong balls) and junk (discarded objects, found or used materials, scrap wood, foam, cardboard), evoking a recycling center rather than an art installation. This approach invites us to reconsider the materials a sculptor has at his or her disposal.

Heller’s installations are always changing, responding to different environments and experiences. Adept at responding to architectural features and constraints, Heller begins by observing each space to create a master plan and establish design parameters. The goal at the Montserrat Gallery was to break up the rectangular “white box” with a curtain wall. A unique assemblage, the curtain serves as a vehicle for destruction and functions as a filter that catches human detritus. Heller defined the general layout but, within the structure, left room for play and improvisation.

Although appearing effortless, Heller’s installations require a tremendous amount of labor. With the help of assistants, in this case art students and gallery staff, Heller began her intensive mode of operation. First, to accumulate and collect materials, then sort them and, lastly, assemble the individual components. The gallery space thus becomes Heller’s provisional studio. Time, space and materials limit the resulting installation. For eight days, chance and the collaborators’ individual creativity shaped the final work. This pressure cooker transforms a wild mix of ingredients into a unique work of art, becoming a valuable learning experience for all involved.

The inability to ever recreate Heller’s installations in an identical manner after deconstruction opposes the notion of sculpture as eternal and permanent. Ironically, the components are mainly plastic and hard to destroy. Heller intentionally creates tension between elements within each piece. The installation juxtaposes varying scales, such as the large quantities of small components formed into large-scale pieces. The elegance of the installation viewed in its entirety contrasts sharply with the crafty or trashy nature of its individual elements. This dichotomy of contradictory forces simultaneously existing within one work is a unifying element in Heller’s oeuvre.

Small groves of trees made of corrugated drainage pipe, paper, duct tape and fabrics seem rooted to the gallery ? oor and stretch to the ceiling, creating the illusion of growth. The trees prove to be good subject matter, as they lend themselves to odd mixtures of materials yet remain readily identifiable. Their inspiration derived from Heller noticing a group of freshly planted trees in the median of a New Orleans street. Supports were staked and tied to the young limbs, guiding them to grow upward. The supports seemed to be trying harder, and certainly took up more space, than the trees themselves.

In our consumer-oriented culture, bright colors and overt plasticity play important roles in seducing buyers. Heller capitalizes on these attentiongrabbing tactics by using mass-produced commercial materials to draw viewers into her artificial paradise. However, a tremendous amount of resources are required to produce the consumer goods that form Heller’s medium. As a result, questions arise regarding her message. Although the artist does not see herself as an environmentalist, such an interpretation is inevitable. Heller states, “We live in a structured society with access to an enormous amount of all this stuff. We think we need it but can’t get rid of it. It fills our landfills. Because our real nature is impeded upon, these are becoming new sites of artificial nature.”

Heller’s forms embody the tension of mass-produced inert objects, now sculpted to represent organic forms that transcend the sum of their parts. This causes viewers to pause and consider the purposes of marginal, utilitarian and worn out objects in a new light. Heller’s “Calamitrees” thereby redefines concepts of sculpture medium as well as human refuge.

Leonie Bradbury, Gallery Director
Acknowledgements: The artist and the author would like to thank Mike Jensen and Frahn Koerner and the gallery staff: Shana Dumont, Jennifer Nazzaro, Dottie Tribeman and curatorial intern Kristen Zeiser for their assistance in bringing together all the elements of this project. Special thanks go to the students who collaborated with Sally Heller to create this exhibition: Leah Christopherson, Andy Curlowe, Shawn-Paul Filtranti, Albert Gray, Natalie Johnson, Jessica L. Lewis, Jessica Y. Lewis, Bea Modisett, Julie O'Boyle, Emily Pardoe, Hayley Perry, Rachel Reed, Nora Richardson, Daniella Riffo, Christina Roginski, Kate Romansky, Elise Towle, Lauren Wile, Liana Willis-Dupoise, and Catie Zappala.