NICOLE MILLER | FOR
NOW
September 14–October 27,
2018
Koenig & Clinton
1329 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
At the center of the dimmed gallery
floor, one encounters the rangy frame of world-class entertainer, Michael Jackson
in the sculpture Michael in Black (2018). Cast in bronze from molds that
were formed by applying plaster directly to Jackson’s skin in 1987, it is hard to
determine whether or not Jackson’s kneeling position appears pious or merely pensive.
Such is the ambiguity that swirls about monuments as one frozen moment is tasked
with bearing the weight of a lifetime.
With his limbs drawn close,
one can also imagine Jackson waiting on a dark stage, his torso tightly coiled in
the seconds before his body will be soaked in spotlight and he will spring into
step after flawless step with an alacrity equaled only by that of his friend, Fred
Astaire. For now, Jackson remains still – paused permanently within the long series
of permutations that characterized the entertainer’s ever-evolving persona.
On the opposite side of
the room, the words “for now” materialize, shift, expand and contract. Recalling
an earlier moment of technical sophistication in live concert special effects, For
Now (2018) morphs through various fonts, colors, and sounds; carving out space
through analog laser light, only to vanish and reappear repeatedly. The phrase becomes
a spectacle without end, dynamically suspended in eternal return.
The only cohesive sound in the
room belongs to acclaimed Italian voice actor, Pino Insegno. Between his animated
expressions, Insegno offers an account for why he is sought after to stand in for
the voices of Black American actors who star in exported Hollywood films. Within
this particular imaginary, in which the temporary act of inhabiting another body
takes the form of speaking through its image, we are reminded that every story is
colored by its telling.
The artist and the gallery offer
special thanks to Laserist Zak Forrest who helped realize For Now (2018).
All images courtesy of the artist and Koenig & Clinton, Brooklyn.
