By Paul Marx, News Correspondent
Perhaps the first thing one notices when walking into the pristine gallery in the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is the completely disassembled Volkswagen Beetle, suspended mid-air with its parts meticulously separated and hanging apart from one another. The apparatus gives the impression of celestial bodies in orbit, and it is no accident that it should ‘- the piece is titled ‘Cosmic Thing,’ and it is the star piece in ‘Damian Ortega: ‘ Do It Yourself.’
Damian Ortega, a Mexican-born artist based in Berlin, is interested in breathing meaning and context into otherwise ordinary objects, according to the exhibit’s program. To do this, he takes things apart, isolates the components and reassembles them with deliberation and gusto.’
The exhibition’s title, ‘Do It Yourself,’ lends an egalitarian air, a notion that is only reinforced as one sees unexpectedly humble displays like the single corn cob (‘Classified Cob’), its only noticeable alteration being its painstakingly numbered kernels (about 500 of them).’
Such junkyard craftsmanship, reminiscent of inspired science projects, is an enduring conceit of the exhibition, and it is in the attendee’s interest to get familiar with it.’
Ortega’s preferred materials are often as readily recognizable as they are unassuming. One display with more apparent alterations, named ‘120 Days’ (in reference to Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom) consists of 120 variations of the universally familiar Coca-Cola bottle. Pointing out the similarities between the bottle and the female form, Mr. Ortega’s variations are distorted, bloated and insecure. They are images of sexuality and perversion ‘- a social and political statement.’
Having worked as a political cartoonist, Ortega knows a thing or two about political statements. His ‘False Movement (Stability and Economic Growth)’ consists of three oil barrels stacked by the edges, affixed by a rotating base. The barrels are precariously placed, but at split seconds of alignment, they create the illusion of steadiness. The clause ‘stability and economic growth’ was taken from a Mexican politician during a rally; as it were, Ortega’s biting caricature is clear.
Despite the apparent snubs, Ortega’s work is not mean-spirited or hysterical; it displays good humor. One piece, called ‘100 Dollars Diet,’ refers to his experience when, given a $100 budget while attending a sponsored event in Cuba, Ortega resolved to save the $100, surviving on three cans of beans and Japanese peanuts. He later exchanged the money for 10,000 pennies, wrapping them into a 50-foot long intestinal form that runs across the gallery. It is a humorous, if accurate, depiction of the pains artists undergo to arrive at their products.
Despite Ortega’s apparent creativity, it would be overreaching to claim that he is treading new ground. Indeed, Ortega’s works are not one would call groundbreaking; there have been far too many bold displays of trash bags and colorful paint spills for that distinction.
Which isn’t to say that his works are not challenging; his works are interesting and original. But with Ortega, one does not, as it often happens with contemporary art, feel hopelessly lost.
