(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)October 13, 2010

(MAHWAH, NJ) – “About the Object,” a collaboration between artist/filmmaker Amy Patton and writer/curator Christina Linden,opens in the Kresge Gallery in the Berrie Center at Ramapo College of New Jersey on November 3 and continues through December 8. A reception will take place on November 3 from 5 to 7 p.m., and at 6 p.m. there will be an introduction by the collaborators.

This project began as a conversation about an encounter with an ambiguously labeled Egyptian artifact at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In sculptural installation, video, and text, “About the Object” takes up specific nuances of this encounter alongside general questions about viewer response to encountering objects in art spaces that read as blank or seem to beg additional explanation. Constellations of pedestals and vitrines present photographs of pyramids Patton took in Cairo alongside a taxidermy fox, a cuckoo clock, a table full of springs, nuts, and bolts, and renderings of impossible objects in wood.

The exhibition is presented as a series of installations arranged in chapters around the exhibition space, each of which gives form to some possible responses to this common phenomenon. These correspond to chapters in a book co-written by Patton and Linden, with photographs by Jada Vogt and designed by Project Projects, which is presented as both a guide to the show and an artwork in its own right. In this way the project is an experiment with object arrangements as a form of essay writing and also with writing as a way of arranging objects.

Amy Patton is a Texas-born, Berlin-based artist whose work often explores the object-like qualities of narrative and the associative processes we use to make sense of all we encounter. A recent solo exhibition at the Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston debuted her new film Oil (2010) and was accompanied by a fully illustrated publication titled bitter, black thoughts. Other recent exhibitions and screenings have taken place at the Bregenzer Kunstverein, the Temporäre Kunsthalle in Berlin, and SculptureCenter in New York. Patton completed her Master of Fine Arts at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Texas at Austin.

“About the Object” was first presented as a thesis exhibition at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard) in the spring of 2009. This is a Ramapo Curatorial Prize exhibition. The prize is awarded each year to a graduating student at CCS Bard. This project is supported in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Gallery hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 1 through 5 p.m. and Wednesdays 1 through 7 p.m. For further information contact Sydney Jenkins, Director of Art Galleries, at (201) 684-7147.

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About Ramapo College

Ramapo College of New Jersey is the state’s premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, Ramapo College offers bachelor’s degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master’s degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

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