Review

"Time Passes, Time Passes By" (detail), Screenprint and Gouache on Paper

Alexandra Robinson
Time Passes, Time Passes By

Noon-5 p.m.

Urban Culture Project Space
21 E. 12th
Kansas City, MO
816.221.5115

Hours: Noon-5 p.m., Thursdays and Saturdays, 6-9 p.m. on Third Fridays
Runs through: Aug. 8

Artist's site: http://www.alexandrarobinsonart.com
Gallery site: http://www.charlottestreet.org

Some people bury time capsules in courthouse squares or stash them in the cornerstones of new buildings. Alexandra Robinson has put more than 2,300 of them in the southeast corner of the Urban Culture Project Space.

The capsules are of Masonite, open at the top, containing nothing save themselves ... nothing tangible, that is. Each of them carries the memory of some significant event since the Charlotte Street Foundation opened Paragraph Gallery and the Urban Culture Project Space on May 16, 2003.

My work is based on the ideas of specificity, Robinson writes.  Small details and ephemeral qualities of experiences and objects inspire my work. My overall vision is to bring to life elements that are often forgotten or overlooked.

By last night's opening, the total of those small elements in this installation was about 2,360. They vary by size: 2-inch cubes for ordinary days, 4-inch cubes for gallery openings and 8-inchers for such major occasions as new leadership.

Robinson paints and works with paper as well as doing installations; the show includes several screen print and gouache works (like the one above), condensing events -- in her life and the gallery's -- from days to weeks. 

In my paintings and works on paper I want the viewer to contemplate not what is in front of their eyes but rather relate what they see to their own experiences and memories, she writes. In contrast, my installation work gives the viewer a new experience with a place. By reacting to the formal qualities of an environment I transform a space into a new experience by paying attention to details however obvious or minute.

As painstaking as the project had to be, that was part of the attraction for Robinson: For me, art must be about process, the time and labor it takes to put installations together is part of the final product. This process is a cathartic experience and I am continually in search of this catharsis when working. It allows me to slow down and take notice. As a whole we tend to overlook, to look too fast and not pay attention.

The actual waiting is what is really interesting; as if we are waiting to notice.

For the viewer, though, there has to be a payoff as well. With this show, Robinson makes the wait -- for her to finish and for the exhibition to open -- well worth it.