When artist Martha Friedman sculpted a seven-foot tall waffle out of
metal, resin and foam for the Public Art Fund's latest exhibition,
"Trapdoor," I'm sure she wasn't thinking about Barack Obama.But when I spoke to Rochelle Steiner, curator of "Trapdoor," I found myself making the waffle-Obama connection. The show, after all, has a theme of the unexpected and change that resonates during this week in history that we as a nation managed to elect Bammers president.
"Each one of these pieces has a sense of transformation exemplified in it," Steiner said. "You don't expect to see a waffle that's seven feet tall."
"Trapdoor" also exhibits new commissions by Ethan Breckenridge, Francis Cape and Sara Greenberger Rafferty. Rafferty's empty tank with ropes at the bottom is presented as a record of an imagined performance. Breckinridge's sculpture "I'm OK—You're OK," composed of 100 functional furniture dollies, rises to 16-feet outside the center. Cape's On Main Street, one of his two free standing sculptures on display in the lobby of the center, includes what appears to be a fragment of a table and part of a shelf, fused with sections of wainscoting and portions of walls.
This is the PAF's 16th year showing work at the MetroTech center in Downtown Brooklyn. Since some of the sculptures will be on display outside, check out the exhibition before it gets too cold.
