The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAD to native Detroiters) is home to a very creative and thought-provoking exhibit now through Jan. 20, 2008 titled “Words Fail Me.” According to Matthew Higgs, a New York-based artist, curator and writer, the exhibition explores visual art’s ongoing, and often times uneasy, relationship with language: A century-long entanglement between word and image. The phrase “words fail me” alludes to language’s limits and limitations, a scenario in which language might be considered insufficient or possibly even inadequate, where words become less certain, more blurred, and consequently, open to interpretation.
As evident from the photos above, the exhibit encompasses a variety of different works from artists depicting the many ways words can form art. From drawings by Anne-lise Coste that resemble illegible scrawlings on diary pages (first photo) to Carl Pope’s menagerie of colorful posters (third photo) that expresses a variety of bold and often conflicting viewpoints, “Words Fail Me” will make you crawl out of your mind’s shelter and allow you to form your own opinions as to why the artists chose such phrases to resemble art. As a bonus, a series of lectures and presentations will also accompany the exhibit. The next one is Oct. 10 and features Carl Pope.
As a person who lingers on the words of others and appreciates music mainly because of the lyrics that accompany the sounds, I would highly recommend this exhibit to anyone who can look beyond the surface and discover the true beauty of this type of art.
I’m discovering more and more reasons every day to appreciate metro Detroit (although it can be difficult most days to stay positive amidst all the negativity). Props to my girl Lauren for finding a great article in the Chicago Tribune titled “The lights come back on in downtown Detroit.” It’s good to see people from other cities (especially a writer from a city as vibrant and addicting as Chicago) giving a lil shoutout to our D-town. Slowly but surely, I think we’re movin on up….