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Quality
Control:
Celebrating the Triumph of Art and Industry
August
14 - September 30, 2004
JIM
THORPE, PA August 4 The Stabin Morykin Gallery is pleased
to present Quality Control, an exhibition that explores
concepts of design, production and quality control and therein
celebrates the industrial art of wood pattern making. The
installation features works by Victor Stabin and Fritz Spokas.
The
central forms used in the installation are antique wooden
patterns for machinery produced for the old Reading Railroad.
Artist Victor Stabin creates whimsical sculptures, sacrilegiously
embedding molds of teeth into his constructions, industrial
vestiges of a manufacturing revolution that gnawed into the
American psyche.
Following
the initial design phase, pattern makers and sculptors working
from detailed drawings develop wood patterns from which production
molds can be formed. Molds are created specifically for each
unique component. Rarely are parts mass-produced -- the level
of quality in each final piece directly relates to the precision
of their accompanying patterns and tooling. Each pattern maker
is trained and expertly skilled in transforming wood into
elaborate tooling.
Contemporary
wooden patterns have also been employed to create Stabin’s
imaginative “turtle frames” – each hand poured and worked
on by local, highly skilled master crafts/tradesmen.
Working
primarily with indigenous hardwoods, Fritz Spokas creates
functional and decorative objects that are known and collected
for their refinement and elegance. By working in the traditional
manner, directly from the log, he maximizes the wood's beauty
and character. Quality Control is Fritz Spokas first group
show at the Stabin Morykin Gallery.
As
artists in the post industrial revolution, Stabin and Spokas
pay a strong tribute to the history of work in the trades.
Their works explore the vanguard of human labor and the changing
nature of work in the digital era.
The
exhibition will be on view at the Stabin Morykin Gallery,
31 Race Street, Jim Thorpe. There will be a reception for the artists on Saturday,
August 14th from 6
to 9 pm.
For
further information or photographs, please contact the gallery. |
