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Venus
The other worldly creature suspended in the Museum’s atrium is named for the ancient Roman goddess of love that has fascinated artists for centuries. His largest work to date, Jason Hackenwerth’s Venus competes for stature with the giant mythological figure opposite it, Marcos Ramirez ERRE’s Toy an Horse.
Hackenwerth has chosen to invoke Venus not to reference art historical tradition, but to allude to exotic plant life and a distant celestial body. From one angle, the work could appear to have the mouth of a carnivorous Venus flytrap plant, yet when light pours through the mass of white balloons, the figure could be read as an unusually shaped, glowing planet.
Meet the artist and observe his creative process during his residency June 2–7. Watch Venus come to life and attend daily workshops with the artist at 12:30pm.
Agartha
Over the course of Animal Art, Hackenwerth will construct multiple large-scale, original balloon sculptures on-site. Using 1000s of balloons and a technique developed after years of working as a children’s entertainer, Hackenwerth creates balloon animals as works of art. His invented creatures are inspired by the look of micro-organisms and the structural engineering of natural forms like coral reefs. Although all of his animals are imagined, Hackenwerth’s sculptures resemble living animals in that they experience an observable life cycle. Constructed and brought to life on-site by the artist, over time each sculpture will slowly age as it wilts, droops, and finally, expires. Hackenwerth views the temporal nature of his work not as a negative side effect of the material he uses, but as an essential truth that mirrors the natural life process of all living things.
Like his work Return of the Trilodon, Jason Hackenwerth once again draws inspiration from the extraordinary creatures of the human imagination in his latest piece for NCM. Hackenwerth has titled his work Agartha, referencing the mythical land thought to reside inside the earth’s core.
The notion of a city hidden within a hollow earth was popularized in both fringe science communities of the 19th century and later in works of fiction like Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. This land is said to be home to fantastic animals and beings. When suspended high above the Museum’s galleries, Hackenwerth’s tentacled and many-legged creatures will no doubt conjure thoughts of subterranean sea creatures that thrive deep beneath the water’s surface—or maybe, deep inside the earth!
About Jason Hackenwerth
Jason Hackenwerth is a sculptor and performance artist who lives and works in New York City. Hackenwerth uses balloons—a material that isn’t traditional, precious or durable—and considers this a metaphor for the human condition. He received his BFA from Webster University in St. Louis, MO and his MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. He has exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions and performances at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City; Art Basel in Miami Beach; the City Museum in St. Louis; Jang Heung Art Park in Seoul, Korea; and the Scope Art Show in London in addition to group exhibitions at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City; Vara Global in Venice, Italy; and the Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, CA. Hackenwerth was a featured speaker at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design Conference (TED) in Palm Springs in 2009 and was awarded a Scope Roving Artist Grant for the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005.
Question & Answer
Q: If you could become any type of animal, what would you be?
A: I would be a giant jelly squidipus or a liger.
Q: Favorite food?
A: Mashed potatoes.
Q: What do you do regularly to help save the environment?
A: I take mass transit like subways and buses. I separate all of my waste and recycle. I always carry my own nylon and canvas bags to the grocery.
Q: Favorite smell?
A: Lilacs in bloom.
Q: Favorite sound?
A: Morning doves.
Q: What was your first pet?
A: A big, orange family cat named Poco.
Q: What’s an unusual and interesting fact about you?
A: When I was twelve, I won the Alphabet Cereal Sweepstakes Grand Prize; I won an awesome Atari 400 computer.
Q: Favorite game?
A: Paper Scissors Rock.
Q: What band or musician best represents you?
A: They Might Be Giants.
Q: Do you have a favorite animal joke?
A: A guy walks into an ice cream parlor with his pet giraffe. The giraffe eats too much ice cream and passes out on the floor. The giraffe’s owner gets embarrassed and starts to leave; the ice cream server says, “Hey—you can’t leave that lyin’ (lion) there!” The guy then says, “Pshh—it’s a giraffe!”
Q: Do you talk to animals?
A: Of course! Doesn’t everyone?
Question & Answer
JasonHackenwerth.com
Interview on TED
Balloon Art
Art Becomes You
Megamites at NHMLA
Agartha in the Union-Tribune
