WILL AND BE GOING TO
Altman Siegel, 1150 25th Street, San Francisco
November 11 – December 17, 2016
Will and Be Going To includes work by Zarouhie Abdalian, Nate Boyce, Jessica Dickinson, Shannon Ebner, Liam Everett, Laeh Glenn, Chris Johanson, Matt Keegan, Shinpei Kusanagi, Devin Leonardi, K.r.m. Mooney, Alex Olson, Trevor Paglen, Will Rogan, Sara VanDerBeek and Emily Wardill.
Deriving its title from Shannon Ebner’s two-part photograph, Will and Be Going To suggests both a present state and directive for future mobility. The black-and-white diptych is comprised of the titular text—an inverted phrase from the artist’s video A PUBLIC CHARACTER—that Ebner stacked atop a scavenged pole. Acting as a prop for language, the rod holds the phrase in space like a three-dimensional word bubble, framing and directing the fragmented speech. This interchangeability of subjects and verbs, evading traditional grammar rules and coupled with the object’s insertion into the natural landscape, combine to question the rigidity of architecture and hint at the impending failure of these structures. The two images differ only slightly in their depictions of the California landscape. The subtle shift in the clouds suggests only minutes or seconds between exposures of the ephemeral, text box skyline. Stimulating the interstices of language and photography, Ebner’s pigment print diptych, like much of the artist’s focus, addresses our understanding of time and space, and serves as an introduction to the works presented here by Altman Siegel’s artists.
http://www.altmansiegel.com/exhibitions-l/current/
