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Indepth Arts News:
"Mood River: An International Exhibition Examing Impact of Design on Contemporary Life"
2002-02-04 until 2002-05-26
Wexner Center for the Arts
Columbus, OH,
USA
Mood River, an innovative international design and art exhibition, opened at the
Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, on February 3, 2002. The exhibition
comprises an eclectic array of more than 2,000 contemporary objects from the worlds of
commerce, culture, and art, installed to create an immersive environment that evokes a
range of moods. By illuminating the unexpected aesthetic connections among diverse
objects, Mood River brings to light the forms, materials, textures, and colors that make
today look and feel like today. The exhibition, which is installed throughout the Center’s
galleries, as well as outside the building, remains on view through May 26, 2002.
Wexner Center Director Sherri Geldin says, “In addition to being a visual feast,
Mood River offers compelling evidence of the power of design to shape our sense of the
world. Boldly conjoining art and design in their survey, the curators reveal and magnify
surprising simultaneities across diverse creative practices and disciplines. They strike a
deft balance between the aesthetics of function and the function of aesthetics.”
Lead sponsor for Mood River is Battelle, supporting the exhibition with a generous
gift of $250,000. “Battelle is very proud to be the lead sponsor of Mood River,” says
Carl F. Kohrt, Battelle President and CEO. “The message conveyed through Mood
River strongly supports Battelle’s objective of educating a global community about the
value of combining art and science to achieve new innovations.”
Mood River -- inspired by the landmark 1934 exhibition Machine Art, which was
organized for The Museum of Modern Art, New York, by legendary architect Philip
Johnson -- includes work by approximately 200 artists, designers, and design firms from
12 countries. Recent work by such renowned designers as Hussein Chalayan, Greg
Lynn, Ross Lovegrove, Issey Miyake, Elsa Peretti, Philippe Starck, and a host of up-and-
coming talents will be on view alongside the work of such artists as Frank Stella, E.V. Day, John Chamberlain, Siobhán Hapaska, Rachael Neubauer, and Tony Cragg.
Among the items included are toothbrushes, lamps, tools, shoes, computers, car
taillights, chairs, paintings, sculptures, a piano, a table that turns into a skirt, a 12-foot
model of the F-117A Stealth Fighter, and a working skate bowl. By taking these and
other items out of their usual contexts, and installing them adjacent to each other, Mood
River enables viewers to better appreciate the aesthetic attributes they share.
Mood River is organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts. The exhibition is co-curated
by Jeffrey Kipnis, curator of architecture and design, and Annetta Massie,
associate curator, both of the Wexner Center; the installation is designed by architect
Jose Oubrerie, with lighting design by John Bohuslawsky, both of The Ohio State
University.
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