By: Tim Donahue
On Jan. 6, local artist and WWU alum Madeline Moser took to the Viking Union Gallery to unveil the encompassing installation “Unraveling”. The work was displayed in the space until Jan. 24.
Close up of one shape within the wrapping. White square with an oval cut out of the middle. Brown twine zags throughout the background. Sophia Nunn // Wavelength
In “Unraveling”, Moser explored the balance between space and claustrophobia by encasing the entire room in sprawls of a gauzy wrap that they fashioned as a way to constrict the audience while maintaining the stunning scale of their work. The wrapping widened one’s scope as it freed itself from the trappings of a frame while surrounding the audience as they entered into the room. It was a claustrophobic experience to walk through Moser’s creation, it began to feel like you were inside of the frame taking an active role in the product. It’s in that balance Moser found their dialogue; between space and constriction, between freedom and the bindings that are all around.
While some might compare Moser’s works to the rise in immersive art that we’ve seen most notably in the exhibit “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” that recently took an Instagram famous tour through Seattle, I saw “Unraveling” as something meant to be lived in rather than interacted with. With such intricacy, “Unraveling” was more akin to a long novel. There were no flashing lights or moving colors, there were no photo ops or surprises because everything was already unveiled by the time you walked in. It’s up to the viewer to make their meaning from the sprawl, and my attempt to make a meaning out of this installation could be completely off base from what other people’s interpretations might have been. It’s an especially intricate projection of self, and it’s all there to be unwound like a great story.
Extra close up of the material used. Brown staining and white fabric are tied and held up at the corner by brown twine. Sophia Nunn // Wavelength
“Unraveling” is part of a series of intriguing art installations that have found a home in the Viking Union Gallery in the past few months. Coming on the heels of Heidi Grace Acuña’s November run with “Lush”, the gallery is showing a new tendency towards immersion and total envelopment in the artists that they choose to highlight.