Artists' Television Access

Excavation Exercise

by Ilana Crispi

Thursday, January 1, 1970, 12:00 am

Excavation1
Excavation Exercise by Ilana Crispi

Excavation Exercise presents evidence of a contemporary archeology. The artificial layering of sediment and growth alludes to the natural deposits of earth over time. Excavation Exercise simultaneously reflects nature and artifice. It presents a quotidian action confronted by an accelerated and selective – and unnatural – geological event.

The objects in the window are those of active stasis, of movement in place. A machine that simulates walking confronts a TV just as it would in a gym or exercise room. Except for their encasement in clay, the objects in the gallery window fit right into the neighborhood. Across the street from the gallery you can watch people exercising on display through the window of an actual fitness center. Exercise as performance or theater is not so far fetched.

Movement is no longer natural. We move without moving. We walk without our feet touching the ground and we get nowhere. Still there is a desire to be natural, to be fit, to be human. We simulate the most natural activity in order to “keep in shape.” We maintain our form by becoming a simulacrum of that form through a simulation of activity while nature continues on its course.


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