WILLFULLNESS OF OBJECTS

The last line in artist, Abraham Cruzvillegas’ essay “The Willfulness of Objects” proclaims, “Everything is alive.” In Cruzvillegas’ text, five short sections provide narrative reminders that the objects and things created and existing alongside us are not stagnant. Objects, like living beings, have complex lifecycles and can evolve and change in form over time. Mutations of the item’s shape, use and value alter their meaning, identity and personal or cultural significance.

Borrowing the title from this essay, The Willfulness of Objects presents a selection of works from The Bass’ collection. many recently acquired, by artists who utilize found, altered, recycled or transformed everyday objects as their materials to explore facets of human nature, history and the surrounding environment. The exhibition includes works by Allora& Calzadilla, Dara Birnbaum, Lara Favaretto, Paola Pivi, Mika Rottenberg, Adrian Villar Rojas, Danh Vo and Hague Yang, among others. Working with existing or familiar items-pearls, a gasoline pump, a commercial freezer and car wash brushes-these artists create works that encompass diverse media, scales and formats varying from scutpture, painting and assemblage to wallpaper and video. The works investigate a range of social and formal issues -an incumbent future filled with material detritus and natural disasters, the volatility of freedom, the fragmentation of political and civic bodies, and the alchemic possibilities of art. Each work invites us to ponder