Mapping the world so that we may use it

written by Ryan Molenkamp

The lineup of shows opening on Second Thursday this month was daunting. What to see? Bad Words at Twilight Artist Collective in West Seattle was intriguing, but I opted to hit up the BFF friends of the NIB and Parallel Universe at Vermillion and Grey, both excellent shows, before heading over the bridge to Kirkland Arts Center to see Off The Map.

I generally walk to every art show in Seattle, so heading to Kirkland really did feel like a journey off the map. What wonders would I encounter?

A giant whirlpool?

A Kraken, perhaps?

A fourth sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean? (I hear one is in the works.)

Turns out that none of those dangers lurk in Kirkland; there's just a stellar show of work centered around mapping as a way we describe the world in order to use the world. These pieces seemed to hint that mapping can be a guide to engineering the landscape, a plan for controlling the land.

The crowd at Off the Map opening on February 11

Curator and UW Museology graduate student Jill Hardy is the first candidate in KAC's new Emerging Curator Initiative program. She pulled together a poignant show of works by Maya Lin, Claude Zervas, Matthew Picton, Jane Tsong, Liz Hickok, Scott Bailey, Hugo Solis and Bruce Hemingway. The material range of the show is diverse, but somehow it all comes together to entertain and enlighten. A rare feat for any curator, let alone a first-timer.

Liz Hickok. Suburban Development: Las Vegas in Jell-O, 2010, dimensions variable Courtesy of the artist

I especially enjoyed Hickok's suburban housing models made of little Jello dwellings; and I couldnt help staring at Zervas' neon Skagit. Lin and Picton's river works were both strong, and the team of Solis & Hemingway add a strange, but pretty, element of chirps and flashes that somehow are creating their own digital map as the show progresses. The only element that felt a bit out of place was Tsong's funny and depressing take on the water system of LA, the Los Angeles water cycle, the way it is, not the way it should and one day will be. A strong piece, sure, but with its simple illustrative drawing, it just felt out of place in a room with Picton and Lin.

That's just the ground floor. Upstairs is work by Scott Bailey, who uses video and painting to create a projected model of Mt. Rainer that feels alive, as if it might erupt at any moment. But, if it did, the eruption would be in delightful soft orange light. Hardy has also included a fascinating piece called Marshall Islands Chart made by the indigenous people of the Marshall Islands, which was used as an instructional mnemonic device for depicting swell patterns in the ocean. Somehow they were able to use these devices to locate other islands hundreds of years before GPS and Google Maps. Including that work in the show seems to say: look at how far we come, but also, see how little we have really changed.

Journey off the Seattle map. Go to Kirkland and see this show. But bring your own snack, the Jello is not for eating.

Off the Map is up at Kirkland Arts Center through March 10. See gallery Web site for more details.