"Acceptance is in accord with a planned view

Review
present Address
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery
Hart House
Stephen Cruise's installation present Address, located in the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, has transcended beyond the realm of art into the realm of placement. Cruise has taken the space in the East and West Gallery and molded it, to create an exhilarating smoothness of movement. The structural flow of the work is so open, that the space between the two galleries has virtually disappeared (on a metaphorical level, of course - the reception desk is still there). And visitors (me) have found that the different aspects of the installation are inexplicably drawn together - as Cruise obviously desired.

Cruise's installation is composed of four separate parts: the heart and spades, the bell-shaped pieces, deer tracks and two large-scaled books. The heart and spades are located alone (as they are fairly large), in the East Gallery. When you first walk into the gallery, you are confronted by the image of a heart on the floor. The image is fragmented as a result of the multitude of smaller pieces of sandstone and marble which form the heart. I find that the heart itself has become a symbol to which everyone can relate (even if that means relating indifferently). However, regardless of any personal baggage any visitor may drag with him or her into the gallery, the heart's overwhelming size is the first impression with which everyone is struck.

What can Stephen Cruise be trying to accomplish by taking this emblem of love, and placing it so that it fills an entire room? I like to think that it is the idea of an object radiating a sense of enormity in such a small space that he wished to evoke. It feels as though if you stay long enough, the heart will begin to spread out further into the room; so that it will eventually touch the corners and no longer be a heart at all. However, my surreal fantasy, while being part of the total effect of this section of the installation, is not the only message with which Cruise was interested.

While standing with the heart, the visitor can look out and see the arched doorways framing either the bell-shaped floor pieces (which resemble chess pieces as well) or two oversized books, depending at which end of the East Gallery the viewer is standing. The lighting that silhouettes each object furthers the dramatic first impression of Stephen Cruise's composition. In the middle of the various parts of the installation are deer tracks that seem to lead the way from the one end of the West Gallery to the other. I am going to be frank with you - I like Cruise's work because of the way he uses space and atmosphere, regardless of the meaning.

In fact, this is the reason I enjoy installations in general: that unlike with a painting, when the viewer moves through the piece, he or she is physically moving. However, if you desire meaning beyond design and placement, Cruise states in his release that "each form is placed to bear witness, a habitat of meeting, speaking of presence and past". So, the installation does, in fact, represent a combination of both history and time, but above all, physical presence is most important. Go visit the installation, and do it quickly because it ends on November 7, 2002.