Rock, paper scissors not just a kid’s game, it’s art

Rock, Paper, Scissors

April 2 — May 22, 2010

Opening reception: April… Rock, Paper, Scissors

April 2 — May 22, 2010

Opening reception: April 2,

6 p.m.–midnight

Galleries: SPACE, A.I.R., Fe

Let’s play a game of rock, paper, scissors. Ready? Shoot. Did you choose rock? Bummer — you just lost to paper.

If you want a version of the childhood contest where it’s impossible to lose, then get your palms ready. Three Pittsburgh galleries are teaming up to present Rock, Paper, Scissors — an exhibition inspired by the classic game.

“I have two boys, and the game is a way we resolve conflicts,” curator Jill Larson said, who came up with the exhibition’s theme a few years ago. Larson, also an artist, created a piece 10 years ago titled “Rock, Paper, Scissors” but wanted to see the theme incarnated on a larger scale. She also wanted to find a way to bring together the separate corners of Pittsburgh’s art world.

“I liked the idea that each element can win, it’s not survival of the fittest,” she said. “I liked the idea of having a show at three different places at the same time. I just needed a reason to do it.”

So Larson organized for three galleries to host components of the exhibition.

“This is a way to encourage people to cross rivers and see other galleries. We’re uniting different communities and sending them on an art goose hunt.”

To aid people in getting from one gallery to another, Molly’s Trolleys is providing complimentary transportation on opening night. The receptions will be staggered, beginning with Artist Imaging Resource (A.I.R.) and ending at SPACE, and there will be performance art by Nicole Czapinski at each location.

All but three of the exhibition’s pieces were created specifically for the show. Larson instructed the contributing artists to think beyond a literal interpretation of rock, paper, scissors. “For paper, I didn’t want their work to be on paper. I wanted it to be more sculptural. So people used things like tube coin wrappers and cupcake liners.”

The “Paper” show will take place at A.I.R., a print and imaging studio in the North Side. “A.I.R. hosts printmakers from all over the world. It has an international reputation,” Larson said.

“Scissor” is hosted by the Fe Arts Gallery in Lawrenceville.

“People had said that Fe should host Scissor because it’s cutting edge, but that wasn’t the motivation,” said Larson.

Artists experimented with a wide range of media — from a sound installation of snipping scissors to an 11’ by 11’ piece covered in vinyl letters spelling “cut.”

SPACE in Downtown’s Cultural District will hold “Rock.” Artist Barbara Weissberger, a studio arts lecturer at Pitt, created a series of five large-scale digital collages for the gallery.

“I tend to work pretty associatively, and I like looking at things as psychological triggers. So I thought about the [Greek mythology] story of Prometheus being chained to a rock as punishment and an eagle eating his liver,” she said. “I go to Montana every year so I put a photograph of the Rocky Mountains in the background of each image. This was a nice coming together between the show theme and materials I work with normally.”

Weissberger explained that her pieces are composed of small shapes cut from photographs of mountains, birds and meats and abstract materials like cardboard and colored fabrics. “They’re very kaleidoscopic and Rorschach-y.”

“I don’t usually work in response to a theme, but there was a lot of serendipity and happy surprise in working with this theme. It was cool to work in a responsive way and get my work to a place it might not have been led to otherwise.”

Delanie Jenkins, another contributing “Rock” artist and the chair of Pitt’s Studio Arts department had a similar experience with the show’s theme. “The curator has been able to challenge the artists. The theme really made us stop and think — it’s been a wonderful creative stretch,” she said.

“In the hand game, I never understood how paper covered rock and disarmed it, so I started thinking about how I could use paper to disarm rock.” Jenkins piece, titled “Patterns for Disarmament,” is a series of rock-like figures composed of tinted glue and paper layers.

Jenkins said she “thought about images of people who are so frustrated all they have left to do is pick up a rock and throw it. A rock is a tool, how did it cross the line and become a weapon?”