In 2007, the Swiss artist Urs Fischer presented an installation of his work on Cockatoo Island in Sydney, Australia. Understanding a bit about the island's past is important to get the context Fischer's work presents itself in.
In 1839, a penal establishment was built on the island. By 1869, overcrowding had made conditions so intolerable that the prison was shut down, twelve years after the Board of Enquiry opened an investigation. In the following years, the facility housed a reform school for orphaned or delinquent girls and naval training for homeless or orphaned boys. The prison wears its tormented past well, the remaining ironwork was described as haunting with "a suspenseful edge, a frisson as you discover each new artwork."
The first piece that caught my eye is what visitors described as a "magical doodle." It appears to be a cast plaster around a wire, but is actually fiberglass. What is evident from the pictures is how well the shape interacts with the cubical negative space it occupies in the courtyard. It also appears to be suspended from wires run across the top of the courtyard which adds an alien levitation quality to the piece in pictures taken during daylight. The very distinct shadow below the extrusion never touches the snake, and the effect is surreal, as if this were a photo of a courtyard that Fischer had scribbled on with a white pen.
Because the piece is white, it takes on many different colors during the day and night, depending on the the lighting, sometimes evoking bone, bent drinking straws, tree branches, and veins.
The second work is a reconstructed furniture piece. Again, being aware of the context in a penitentiary becomes increasingly important only being able view photographs of the sculpture. People who follow Fischer's work comment that chairs are a re-occuring theme in much of his work. Fischer, in an interview, called them "surrogates for the human form." This specific work was displayed in a dormitory room. The chair and dresser have been smashed into pieces and glued back together. The chair is balanced on the side of the dresser but doesn't look very stable. There also seems to be many different types and colors of wood in both furniture pieces, as if they weren't originally a matching set which is usually the case for dorm furniture.
Not seen in this photo is a white porcelain, 2-handle bowl that has also been glued back together. The overall feel of the piece is abused. It seems like the owner was in a hurry and this is a snapshot of the furniture just before it completely falls apart.
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