Tristin Lowe at RISD Museum of Art

TRISTIN LOWE: UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design | Providence, RI | www.risdmuseum.org | Through October 24, 2010

After the successful installation of a fifty-two-foot-long, life-size model of a white sperm whale at the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Tristin Lowe has tackled the moon as the subject of his latest installation in a series of monumental inflatable sculptures.

Like Mocha Dick, the life-size copy of the whale that is said to have inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the twelve-and-a-half-foot diameter moon is entirely fashioned from white wool felt and filled with an inflatable body which supports the felt skin.

The exhibition consists of two pieces: Lunacy, the moon, and Visither I, a blue neon line drawing of a spaceship, installed as if it were circling the moon. However, it mostly casts its airy blue hue from behind the felted moon, illuminating the exhibition space and setting the scene.

Though it rests on the floor, the moon seems to hover and overwhelm the space with its powerful presence. While the sculpture does not represent an accurate model of the moon, it possesses a myriad of detailed craters that resembles the moon’s terrain. The thick, soft felt, created by using an ancient technique, absorbs light and sound. If not for its size, this cozy, friendly moon could exist in a children’s room, providing an ideal backdrop for comforting and reassuring bedtime stories.

However, the moon’s human impact can have a darker side, extending far beyond gravitational pull and magnetic fields. Certain mental conditions used to be attributed to the moon–at one time, it was thought that being “under the influence” of the moon could lead to “lunacy,” from the Latin luna (the moon), or the French word lunatique.

While presenting a continuation of earlier inflatable sculptures like Dumbo, a jumbo pink elephant; Balloon, a gigantic beach ball; or the large one-eyed blue ladies named Alice, Lowe’s most recent installation is calmer and more contemplative than his earlier work. More quiet consideration and less of the outrageous hilarity found in Bed (a self-wetting bed), or the repulsive Puking Man, Lowe’s moon is almost subdued in comparison.
-Martina Windels