Art Lies, Volume 31, Summer 2001 Page: 81
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: ArtLies and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Michele Monseau
Fuzzbox
SALA DIAZ
SAN ANTONIO
by Wendy Weil AtwellMichele Monseau's "Fuzzbox," an instal-
lation at Sala Diaz, was an ultra-sensory
exhibition. Ultra not in an excessive,
showy, or carnivalesque manner, but in
the dictionary sense of "on the other
side; beyond the range or limits of."
Ultrasound and ultraviolet light function
along this principle: knowledge of their
existence is dependent upon having the
sensory receptacles to pick up on their
vibration or radiation. Monseau's instal-
lation was refined and subtle, but in no
way inaccessible. Instead, her work
transformed the spaces of Sala Diaz's old
house and quietly activated them,
encouraging viewers to intuit something
supernatural amid the rooms.
Monseau works with an unusual
media: fuzz. Light, wispy, and brightly
colored, this fiber is deconstructed by the
artist from synthetic and natural yarns in
a wide range of colors. Small thin fibers
in a variety of kinks and curls, they have
been ripped from their intended function
and molded by Monseau into almost
weightless balls and clouds of color.
Monseau used fuzz to construct a
series of tableaux that could be interpret-
ed as a sort of blurred formalism. Boogie
was sculptural, colorful, and based on the
grid. Monseau shaped the fuzz into lit-
tle balls (sometimes containing colorful
balls-within-balls), and set them out on
the floor, creating a brilliantly colored
rectangle made from thirty-four rows of
fuzz balls in columns of five. The colors
ranged from sky blue to yellow, green to
white, and included purple, red, and
orange. Directly above this fuzzy rectan-
gle, on the ceiling, Monseau painted a
similarly scaled rectangle with pearles-
cent polyurethane paint, creating an
iridescent reflection.
I Saw My Reflection Come Right Off
Your Face used powdered pearl and cat
whiskers to create a small painted rectan-
gle, also in the first room, which directly
reflected the light-switch plate on theopposite wall. Inside the rec-
tangle, Monseau pierced the
wall with small holes and
inserted six cat whiskers, so
that they formed the points of
two upside-down triangles,
one above the other. In the
next room, painted on a wall
so that it directly reflected the
window opposite, was Feel,
pearles-cent polyurethane and
cat whiskers. In this case, the
whiskers were placed into the
wall so that they spelled out
the word "feel."
Fuzzbox, installed in the
closet, was a visual metaphor
for a device used by musicians
to distort amplified sound.
Monseau painted the closet's
interior hot pink-magenta and
lit it with a yellow bulb. Fuzz
spewed out of every possible
crevice, and a soundtrack played fuzzy
sounds. Green fuzz crept out of a crack
inside the closet. Overhead, fuzz hung in
the doorway; below, white fuzz oozed
from the base mold. Orange fuzz pro-
jected from a hole in the wall where a
clothes rod had once resided.
An exhibition that at first may have
seemed to be only a formal experimenta-
tion with color, sound, texture, and form,
Fuzzbox had ulterior motives. Fuzziness,
iridescence, and whiskers all touched
upon the senses in a provocative manner,
raising questions about how individuals
perceive their surroundings. Whiskers
serve as sensory inputs, helping cats
determine the size of narrow spaces they
can (or cannot) squeeze through.
Similarly, Monseau's use of interference
paint resonates beyond iridescence.
Interference is defined as "the mutual
effect on meeting of two wave trains of
the same type so that such light waves
produce lines, bands, or fringes either
alternately light and dark or variouslycolored and sound waves produce silence,
increased intensity, or beats." Monseau's
interference paint could be seen in two
ways: from one angle, it produced a mes-
merizing, colorful iridescence; seen
another way, it was simply a transparent
coat of paint over a blank, white wall.
Monseau effectively used her media to
provoke questions about how life inter-
feres with our vision/perception.
Michele Monseau
Boogie (foreground)
I Saw My Reflection Come Right Off Your Face
(background), 2001
Pearlescent polycrylic, fabricated fuzz, cat whiskers
Courtesy of the artistARTL!ES Summer 2001 81
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two pages within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Kalil, Susie. Art Lies, Volume 31, Summer 2001, periodical, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228061/m1/83/?q=%221964~%22&rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .