It’s not often that yarn sculptures foretell the future of art, but the Smithsonian’s latest exhibit hardly meets one’s traditional expectations of craftsmanship. The 40 under 40: Craft Futures exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery arrives to D.C. 40 years after the museum’s founding in 1972, showcasing a vast range of craft art made post-9/11, when the “20th century effectively ended.” The exhibit effectively demonstrates to viewers the new directions of art in the 21st century, combining every medium from ceramics and metalwork to industrial design and installation art.
Much of the exhibit was created not just by hand but also with the help of various graphic design workstations, evincing a shifting medium among contemporary artists. Christy Oates’s “E-Waste” was created digitally, as was Erik Demaine’s self-folding origami. Oates’s oeuvre showcases Marquetry, a veneer technique made nearly extinct due to its labor-intensive production. New technology, particularly the advent of the 3-D printer, is reinvigorating the art form.
Although such innovations may appear to downplay the talent presented at the Renwick, it’s fair to note that art is an expression of the time, and above all, these 40 artists are showing us in a tremendously beautiful fashion the vast artistic possibilities that even the most overlooked of materials can offer us. Sabrina Gschwandther, for example, took the film of a 1960s movie and converted it into a quilt, two now-antiquated crafts being brought back to life.
Perhaps the most intriguing piece at the exhibit, however, was a fully immersive meditation room constructed by Nick Dong. Entitled the “Enlightenment Room,” the rectangular space is lined with elliptical tiles, with a reflective floor and ceiling. If nothing else, the experience of the “Enlightenment Room” alone makes the visit worthwhile.
Other notable works included another installation art experience, Knitting is for Pus****, by Olek. The room imitates the structure of a standard apartment, only with everything made entirely of yarn. Various quotes line the walls, adding a personal touch to the work, and the bright colors play off one another to create a truly kaleidoscopic experience.
It’s hard to deny how much things have changed since 2001, let alone 1972. Many of these artists are discredited in their art because of their age or their time, but it’s hard for an art aficionado to leave unimpressed by the work created by such young people from all over the world. Most of the pieces are not in 2-D, and anyone unwilling to get hands on won’t be in for any fun. But the true beauty of 40 Under 40 comes in the changing media of art, as 3-D pieces bring art outside the purely visual sense and into the endless possibilities of a tactile world.
