Ahoard of canoes, jet skis, surfboards and rowboats exploding over the Pacific Ocean; a cartoon skeleton cloaked with Abu Ghraib garb — i.e., a dunce hat and a poncho.
Nancy Rubin’s sculptural piece, titled “Pleasure Point,” overlooks the Pacific Ocean from the west side of the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. The piece gives a nod to the culture of consumerism and water sports rampant in San Diego.
Such images, a whimsical play on American culture and politics, are the latest exhibitions (and film screening) presented this month at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. Two pieces by American artists Nancy Rubins and Robert Irwin, addressing the San Diego regional identity and landscape, and “Toon Town Troublemakers,” from the MCASD’s first annual animated short film festival, make up the best of this month’s programming.
Sculptor Nancy Rubins’ permanent piece at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, titled “Chas’ Stainlesss Steel, Mark Thompson’s Airplane Parts, About 1,000 Pounds of Stainless Steel Wire, and Gagosian’s Beverly Hills Space at MOCA,” made specific reference to the Sept. 11 attacks. Now, she creates a less political, more cultural piece that gives special homage to the beach culture that has come to define San Diego. Attached to the roof of the museum, the composition of boats, canoes and jet skis cascades across the sky and dangles just above visitors’ heads. By placing the ship parts just above eye level, rather than below vistors’ feet or on the edge of their horizon line, Rubins realigns our view of the oceanscape and introduces us to a breathtaking play of tension and gravity. Titled “Pleasure Point,” the site-specific piece reminds us of the core passion that most San Diegans harbor: a love of the ocean. The work is an ongoing exhibition and is on view at the west side of the MCASD La Jolla facility.
Paying further homage to the San Diego cultural makeup is the ongoing exhibition TRANSactions: Contemporary Latin American and Latino Art, also on view at the MCASD La Jolla facility. With emphasis on ‘trans,’ whose Latin root translates to ‘across,’ the exhibition gives special attention to the diversity and hybridity of contemporary Latin American art that transmits across cultural, political and aesthetic borders. The show highlights artists of diverse media and disciplines, as well as showing connections between Latinos working in the United States with artists from Latin America. This dismantling preconceptions of Latin American and Latino art and prompting new understandings of the current state of art in the Americas.
MCASD’s first annual short film festival “Toon Town Troublemakers” will feature experimental and edgy short animations that put an intriguing twist on film creation.
Emphasizing heterogeny and artistic risks, MCASD is also presenting its first annual short film festival “Toon Town Troublemakers” — a time-sensitive film festival showcasing for one evening only. An intoxicating screening of the latest animation talents, from hand-drawn animation to do-it-yourself punk rock ethos to computer-generated schemes, Toon Town Troublemakers will challenge filmgoers’ assumptions about animation and its potential as an evolving medium.
Nancy Rubins and TRANSactions exhibitions are ongoing. Film screening Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. with $5 admission for MCASD members, students and seniors and $7 general admission. MCASD is located at 700 Prospect St. in La Jolla. Box office opens at 6 p.m. For more information call (858) 454-3541 or www.mcasd.edu.
