JAVA July:Aug 2018

ARTS
EUAN MACDONALD
A Bigger Plan
By Amy Young
In each month of the current summer season, the
ASU Art Museum is opening a new exhibition. In
July, it’s A Bigger Plan, which features the work
of Euan Macdonald, and unlike the other summer
shows, this one will operate a bit differently. This
two-part exhibition kicks off on July 28 with Side B,
which runs through September 1. In mid-September,
Side A opens and stays active until the first of
December.
It isn’t surprising that the exhibition will commence
with Side B. When it comes to time, Macdonald is
known to shake things up a bit, often playing with
everyday scenarios to challenge dominant perceptions
and expectations. Macdonald, who was born
in Scotland and resides in California, has been doing
video work since the early ’90s. In this portion of the
two-pronged show, you’ll see an early survey of his
video work, where he uses loops and layered imagery
for multisensory provocation.
In Two Planes, a single-channel video projection from
1998, Macdonald has us focused on two planes flying
next to one another, in unison, against the backdrop
of a blue sky. Because of the synchronicity of the
planes, the video immediately conjures up images
and ideas of an air show – or something equally as
bucolic with a sporting intent.
In its short run time – just over two minutes – the
video plays some tricks on the mind. As you stay
focused on these parallel planes in motion, there are
some seemingly natural interpretations. These metal
beasts look like sharks swimming in unison. But as
your mind stops running the imagery through the
finding-order-in-chaos filter, the simple video – with
its pervasive airplane motor sound looming in the
background – makes you face your own interpretations.
It’s an open-ended scenario. Is it ominous and
frightening? Is it hopeful? How it hits your core can
offer you a self-reflective chuckle. An element of
humor is present in Macdonald’s work and is found
in those self-challenging moments, as well as in his
emphasis of the monotonous grinds that comprise
everyday life.
The 1997 video Interval highlights the daily grind, as
two long shadows are projected across a freeway.
We see the cars relentlessly parade over these
silhouettes. It’s as much of a nod to the relationship
between man and nature as it is, yet again, to the
cogs that help keep everything in motion. Maybe
it’s a subtle call-to-arms – an in-your-face reminder
to find ways to operate outside of those general
mechanics.
A more recent video from 2011 titled 9,000 Pieces
opens like the beginning of one of those energetic,
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MAGAZINE