Artists "Review" Artists: Ryan Burkhart on James Bills

The Artists "Review" Artists Project was launched on June 30, 2008.  Below is a "review" of James Bills' work, Kaleidoscope Cylinder, written by Ryan Burkhart.  James also provided a second image, 1d100 (Precious Metals), as well as a brief response to Ryan's "review."

James currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, and Ryan lives in Charlotte, NC.

If you would like to participate in this project, please email me at jtkirkland [at] gmail [dot] com.

Kaleidoscope Cylinder
Pencil and silver leaf on paper
19" x 24"
2008

The "Review"

At first, Kaleidoscope Cylinder seems to adopt the mechanical conventions of drafting more than it does the facture of traditional drawing. Initially, the image presents the viewer with a horizontally stacked series of segmented cross sections, centered on the page, which change in color from cool to warm as eye moves from the outer edges of the graph toward the center, radiating line. There is a subdued playfulness at work here, which aims to balance the work between implied form and some sort of graph. That playfulness is compelling too, forcing the viewer back and forth between two possibilities: Am I looking at an object rendered transparent or at some sort of diagram of a process yet to be named?

I opened the file and zoomed in as far as I could to examine the texture of the work as closely possible, a technique I would most certainly employ with my eyes if I could see the real thing. Even in the digital file, the contrast between colored pencil and the surface quality of silver leaf is apparent and inviting. I feel confident in saying that by contrasting the drafting approach with the hand applied silver leaf, the artist is asking us to look deeper into the work, but as to what I am searching for I cannot say.

The piece has placed me in an arena of process art, drafting, and materials but is there more?  At this point, it seems appropriate to look toward the title for a clue. Kaleidoscopes are wonderful toys, designed for visual pleasure and surprise, but this piece has no reference to the symmetrical Rorschach designs the object creates. In fact, the drawing seems to have no concern with the type of visual movement or frivolity the actual kaleidoscope provides.

It’s that damn silver appliqué…I know there must be something deeper here.

Perhaps the artist is making an allusion to Hyperbolic Geometry, a concept that grafts Euclidian geometry to curved space and allows parallel lines to intersect.  Is this another case of artist using math as a launch pad for creativity? Is it headed towards more esoteric territory?  Is it pseudo drafting plus alchemy?

There’s a pleasurable frustration at work here -Perhaps Art History might lend a hand. I see a possible affinity to the works of Duchamp and Picabia, who had a knack for blending machines, alchemy, and sexuality with graphic approaches, but I would need to see much more work to even begin to understand what is informing and guiding this particular piece and if those precedents have anything whatsoever to do with this artist’s concerns.  

I am left wondering where this drawing leads the artist next– is it a source for sculptural objects or even Rube Goldberg like contraptions that have fun with math, alchemy, materials, function, and form? For me, it’s all of these projections and possibilities that make Kaleidoscope Cylinder as successful as it can be in the Artist Review format … my curiosity has been sincerely stirred.

By Ryan Burkhart

                 
1d100 (Precious Metals)
white gold, gold, silver and copper leafing on cast aquaresin
36" x 43" x 42"
2006

The Response

Thank you for your thoughtful review.  A lot of your comments are accurate.  With this drawing I was fusing together architectural drafting with some ideas about graphs and randomness.  Each cross section’s shape is determined by dice rolls (the random element) and the color gradient maps out the overlapping depth of the stacked discs.  The silver leafing was to demarcate the edges of the discs, as well as add some glamour into the whole process.  The intent was to create something visually opulent as well as systematically pre-determined.

By James Bills

Previous "Reviews":
Pam Farrell on Ken Weathersby
Paula McCullough on Aric Calfee
Lee Gainer on Leigh Waldron-Taylor
Aric Calfee on Paula McCullough
Matthew Ballou on Heather Levy
Giovanni Garcia-Fenech on TJ Norris
TJ Norris on Giovanni Garcia-Fenech
Susan Tolbert on Mary Klein
Heather Levy on Gail Vollrath
Sharon Butler on Matthew Ballou
Mark L. Power on Steven Alexander
Steven Alexander on Mark L. Power
Molly Norris on M. Trigos
Ken Weathersby on Joseph Barbaccia
Sondra Arkin on Susan Tolbert
John M. Adams on Sharon Butler
Michael Paul Oman-Reagan on Brent Hallard
Daniel Mafe on Pam Farrell
Joanna Knox on John M. Adams
John Lucien Grillo on Joanna Knox
Brent Hallard on Lisa Klow
Joseph Barbaccia on John Lucien Grillo
M. Trigos on Michael Paul Oman-Reagan
Mary Klein on Imants Ozers
Richard Schemmerer on Michael Konrad
Michael Konrad on Richard Schemmerer
Jennifer Mawby on Lee Gainer
Lisa Klow on Molly Norris
Bob Barbera on Jenn Figg
Tom Wagner on Kimberley L. Lindsley
Michelle Hunter on Aaron McMasters
Gail Vollrath on Daniel Mafe
Aaron McMasters on Michelle Hunter
Demetrius Romanos on Chris Rywalt
Chris Rywalt on Demetrius Romanos
Imants Ozers on Sondra Arkin
Timothy Buckwalter on Rob Hitzig
Rob Hitzig on Susan Constanse
Carolina Mayorga on Timothy Buckwalter
Leila Holtsman on Carolina Mayorga
Grant Dale on Matt Hollis
Matt Hollis on Mel Prest
Mel Prest on Marina Reiter
Susan Contanse on Alexandra Silverthorne

Comments

[LG]

I like James's work quite a bit. It combines the hand with a "machine made", technically perfect quality. Ryan's review is excellent. The term, "pleasurable frustration" is a real keeper. One of my favorite reviews/posts in this series so far.

[Ryan Burkhart]

Thanks, LG!