The Sculpture Hidden in Plain Sight

The sculpture “Offshoot and Couplet” hangs high on the wall of the Communications building at Western Washington University. The original intent of the artist, Cris Bruch was to make a “major shift in [his] work, toward artwork that was more reflective” and more “about thought and reform” (Bruch). As he was in the process of making the sculpture, which involved writing on and bending an old roll of steel banding he had collected from an abandoned pier, he connected the tension within the material to grammar and syntax. In the midst of his craft, Bruch found that he could imply volumes, but he didn’t necessarily need to occupy them.

About the Artist:

Artist Cris Bruch was born in Sugarcreek, Missouri and earned a BFA in sculpture/ceramics at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. After completing an MFA and MA, he moved to Seattle in the 80s and has lived there ever since. Bruch’s work and muse has been ever-evolving; in the 1980s he focussed on issues that he had great concern for at that time: the imbalance and aggression that was undeveloped in American consumer culture, and its impact on economic disparity and homelessness. In the following decade, Bruch’s work began to involve the problems with consumer culture, as well as social and economic disparity with a “more formal aesthetic, characterized by the use of nontraditional materials and repetitive processes”. In the Frye Art Museum, Cris Bruch created an exhibit called “Others Who Were Here”, just last year. This show brought to life the “High Plains” past of both his grandparents and great grandparents who were/are German farmers living on land that turned to Dust Bowl desolation. His eerie exhibit juxtaposes hard work with hollow results.

 

Art at the Time of Creation:

There were two distinct art movements going on at the time: transgressive art and massurrealism. Transgressive art is a sort of shock value of art, frequently dealing with themes such as psychological dislocation and mental illness. Massurrealism is a surrealist movement that emphasizes the effect of technology and mass media on contemporary surrealist imagery. It is generally differentiated from surrealism by the use of modern technology to fuse pop art and surrealist tradition. Massurrealism shows that art is made by people and has a human message, rather than the art controlling the artist. It is using these methods that give the artist control over the creative work, and not the other way around.

The 1990s were revolutionary times in the art world, for visual, music, and performance art. Seattle was the birthplace of grunge music, which rapidly gained popularity in the 90s. Grunge was created to bring up social issues in pop culture and introspective of personal opinions. This music trend spread to the visual art world in the US and helped drive artists to create works about the “identity politics” debates, the digital revolution, and globalization. As art grew in popularity globally, artists created more site-specific installations, political subject matter, and personal identity. Changes in the outside world effect the art world. So as cultures were clashing and blending, art was being created with no culture boundaries and breaking stereotypes.

 

Credits:

Maddie Brands – author

Katherine Griffin – author and sculpture photographer

Lea Schiller – author