Mike Nelson's Double Negative (The Clown) Revisits Triple Bluff Canyon at Modern Art Oxford
At Modern Art Oxford, Mike Nelson's Double Negative (The Clown) revisits his 2004 installation, Triple Bluff Canyon, drawing inspiration from Robert Smithson's 1970 work, Partially Buried Woodshed. Over the span of six weeks, Nelson crafted this new installation, which includes a series of interconnected spaces and a passage resembling a mineshaft. Within the rooms, visitors will find items such as a door labeled "2,250 Gallons Total in Shed. NO SMOKING" and a sculpture with quasi-modernist characteristics. Influenced by Kobo Abe, Brian Aldiss, and Stanislas Lem, the work features symbolic objects like a red motor helmet and Tarot cards. Nelson's exploration delves into themes of memory, entropy, and the fleeting essence of objects, resonating with the historical interplay of technology and conflict.
Key facts
- Mike Nelson's Double Negative (The Clown) is a re-enactment of his 2004 Triple Bluff Canyon at Modern Art Oxford.
- The 2004 installation drew on magic, geometry, and Land Art, specifically Robert Smithson's Partially Buried Woodshed (1970) at Kent State in Ohio.
- The original work used 20 truckloads of earth, accelerating entropy and turning a structure into a mound.
- The new piece involved six weeks of assemblage and staging, featuring a series of spaces and a mineshaft passageway.
- One room includes a door with the text "2,250 Gallons Total in Shed. NO SMOKING" and a room called The Book of Spells with shelves of travel guides.
- A star-shaped hole in a door allows a glimpse of a quasi-modernist plaster sculpture, recalling Marcel Duchamp's Étant donnés.
- Plaster sculptures near the entrance incorporate recycled chicken wire, wood from Wales, and plaster, with wild fingermarks and allusions to Rodin.
- Influences include Kobo Abe's Woman of the Dunes, Brian Aldiss' Earthworks, Stanislas Lem, Bill Burroughs, and Andrei Tarkovsky.
- Fragments of broken mirror-like plexiglass from the first show are set in sand, a tribute to Robert Smithson's 1969 Mirror Displacement works in Mexico and the UK.
- The work reflects entropy, memory, and the age of oil, with references to the Iraq War and Victorian industry.
Entities
Artists
- Mike Nelson
- Robert Smithson
- Marcel Duchamp
- Rodin
- Kobo Abe
- Brian Aldiss
- Stanislas Lem
- Bill Burroughs
- Andrei Tarkovsky
- John K. Grande
Institutions
- Modern Art Oxford
- Museum of Art Oxford
- Kent State
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Tate Britain
- Socialist Party
- Gulf Oil
- Artlyst
- Black Rose Books
- University of Chicago Press
Locations
- Oxford
- United Kingdom
- Ohio
- United States
- Kent State
- Philadelphia
- Wales
- Mexico
- Iraq
Sources
- Artlyst —