"Human Nature"
1999-07-16 until 1999-09-05
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Minneapolis, MN, USA United States of America

A German transplant to Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region, Frank Sander has learned that, if connected to nature, a person can live very simply; and through simplicity comes freedom. One Earth, one chance is the eco-imperative that links his philosophy with his work.

Human Nature features three main architectural components—Fishhouse, Bathhouse and Beaverhouse—each a distinct, symbolic, sensory experience that reflects the artist’s belief that the environment must be our primary issue if we are to survive.

Fishhouse speaks to the container of time and the socialization of the human soul. Its roof is an ash and beeswax-coated boat, overturned and held high by four strong timbers. From the roof, Sander suspends 365 resin-encased, smoked herring—each representing a day of the calendar year.

Beaverhouse comments on our calculated, often ruthless exploitation of nature. Its form is built around a log frame of poplars felled by beaver. Underneath it sit 70 government-issue file cabinets, each drawer containing a beaver skull. The skulls were discovered at a remote woodland site, where a long-ago trapper had tossed them.

Bathhouse is more hopeful in its suggestion that we can find our way back. Under the structure’s roof—an aquarium containing live fish—is a chair standing in a small reflecting pool, which, to the artist, signifies human consciousness.

Frank Sander’s work is made possible, in part, by the support of the Duluth Art Institute.

Human Nature is presented by the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program, an artist-managed curatorial department of The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Minnesota

Other Important Exhibitions in Minneapolis