LOS ANGELES
Kori Newkirk: “RANK” at LAXART

Kori Newkirk’s new sculptural installation at LAXART is both subtle and spectacular, combining the affection for Minimalism he expressed in previous white-on-white encaustic paintings with the splash and circumstance of the now-infamous hair pomade helicopter mural at the Studio Museum. The idea is a deceptively simple one—meaning that the idea is both straightforward and monolithic—but the effect is spectacular and carries the germ of chaos inside of itself. The object, in other words, comprises a singular, monolithic act, but its ultimate content is unpredictable. Newkirk constructed an enormous Las Vegas style production number of a tiered, towering stage, glittering, beckoning to its inaccessible heights, whereupon was perched a speaker’s podium, festooned with a jealously beautiful bouquet of chromed network news microphones. Every side and surface of the stage was paneled in highly reflective mirror, which made for a funhouse aesthetic, an unavoidable touching up of the hair, and a deadly serious comment on the state of the current political climate.

The definitions of “reflection” range from the sciences of physics and optics (the change in direction of a light wave encountering a surface like a mirror so that the wave returns toward the object from which it originated) to the psychological (introspection, self-regard, pondering); from the upper reaches of theoretical mathematics (something about number sets that transform external sets into their own mirror images) to the mystical (achieving awareness of one’s own humanity and the capacity of others to help inform our understanding of ourselves.) All of which seem to have a point to make in the experience. In spite of the dexterous metaphor of show and theater and the salient ideas that reflections engender, the object ultimately takes no responsibility for answering the questions it poses. If the medium is an empty vessel, then who supplies the message? Is there more than one message? Who is the authority on its/their meaning? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The operations of scale and illusion in the room can either illuminate or divert from larger questions of perception, comprehension, and self-awareness, but one thing is certain: Politics never looked so wicked and dressed to kill, and Minimalism never looked so disco.