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Jason Dodge in his studio. Photo \u00a9 Claudia Klein<\/p>\n Jason Dodge in his studio. Photo \u00a9 Claudia Klein<\/p>\n
Conceiving absences which reveal presences<\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a problem with making conceptual art: \u201cAn empty exhibition space has such a specific meaning to it. Anything after that work is a decision in the opposite direction.\u201d So muses American conceptual artist Jason Dodge, whose minimal work has been exhibited in (no longer empty) spaces such as the Kunstverein Hannover and who recently created his first permanent installation at Collezione Maramotti, \u201cA Permanently Open Window\u201d. His response to this conundrum is to conjure the magic of the everyday through specifics, reminding audiences of what they aren\u2019t seeing when they look around them. While an absence of stuff might be able to ask, in an entirely unique way, for its observers to pay attention, Dodge\u2019s sculptures ask them to notice the choices of things present \u2013 pillows only slept on by one person, a window that is forever open, a room previously inhabited by animals. Audiences look at these things and remember others that have passed them by in the daze of habituality \u2013 for example, Dodge describes the feeling of watching someone you\u2019re falling in love with going to sleep and wondering what can be in their head on the pillow. Works that might seem sparse and minimalist on first glance can become almost overwhelming in their ability to poetically allude to how \u201call of a sudden you\u2019re in a crowded room.\u201d<\/p>\n Dodge\u2019s current work is concerned with the points in the distance to which Greek and Roman statues are gazing, compared to those of German wood sculptor Veit Stoss. This led to his\u00a0 considering Apple\u2019s FaceTime and its relation to the \u201choly distance\u201d between illuminated manuscripts and their readers. \u201cI\u2019m fascinated by how we can connect to each other over thousands of years via this simple change in distance.\u201d<\/p>\n With these arcane interests at the heart of his practice, Dodge\u2019s studio isn\u2019t exactly a practical work area for him \u2013 in fact he uses the space more for making objects for his house. \u201cThe studio reflects my life more than my work. My wife and I make almost everything we live with.\u201d His DIY lifestyle meant the artist began to avoid making things that would end up being artworks: \u201cEventually, my work evolved in a way where actually making things was interfering with what I\u2019m trying to say.\u201d He cites a series of works in which he dictated the length of yarn \u2013 equalling the distance from the Earth to above the weather \u2013 and gave it to others around the world to weave (namely, \u201cIn Swaziland Jane Dlamini and Lomcwasho Jess Mphila wove cotton yarn the colour of night and the distance from the earth to above the weather,\u201d 2011). The result takes its viewers high above, by allusion, but also nods to the universality of design as a human endeavour: \u201cHand-weaving exists in every culture. It somehow unifies us as people.\u201d<\/p>\n Here, as often in his work, Dodge works to build a narrative that continues to grow in the minds\u00a0of his audience. This \u201clightness\u201d, as he calls these conceptual resonances, is often created by the titles of his work. Why the object is there, how it got there and how it was made \u2013 these facts take us deep inside the banality of the everyday stuff, creating poetry from it: this is the medium with which Dodge finds the greatest creative cohesion. \u201cThe creative people I relate to the most are poets. I read so much poetry that I can\u2019t use language recklessly.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, nothing seems to be reckless for Dodge, from the placement of works, to his choice of\u00a0materials, to who makes the objects he displays. Each work has been carefully selected, weighed\u00a0up, and presented to create something exact. For his upcoming show in Seattle (\u201cWhat Have We\u00a0Done\u201d at the Henry Art Gallery, until January 26 2014) he is currently fighting the long list of health\u00a0and safety requirements: \u201cA lot of the practical work involves protecting the work so that it means\u00a0what it\u2019s supposed to mean.\u201d What a poetic depiction of a Twenty-First Century artist: a freedom\u00a0fighter on the side of meaning.<\/p>\n