5 Students, 1 Quest: Entertainment Journalism Through Blogging

In 1938 the Sioux City Art Center was founded as a Works Progress Administration project in order to serve people from all different types of backgrounds, interests and ages. The center offers exposure to the arts through many different facets such as; education, exhibition, permanent collection and through the support of artists.

Starting on the third of January 2008 visitors to the museum are able to experience a site-specific installation by Minnesota artist Liz Miller. This installation entitled Resplendent Reconnaissance can be seen in the three-story Atrium of the art center and will remain there for up to two years.

Miller’s exhibit contains materials such as felt, colored vinyl and plastic sheeting.

“Ms Miller’s constructions, from what are most typically considered “craft” materials, have accessibility and playfulness that makes their abstract forms familiar and accessible.” (www.siouxcityartcenter.org).

Her creations explore many of Miller’s ideas about order and chaos and help to show how variety and complexity can emerge from what may seem like simplistic and repeated forms. In her artist statement Miller says that her wall-based installations, “reference biology, natural disasters, and computer imagery.” Throughout her work she constantly strives to portray equal parts of both fact and fiction when it comes to her wide range of already existing patterns.

“Saccharine colors and intense repetition seduce the viewer, subscribing to an underlying logic that allows playfulness to lead to sinister conclusions. Beauty and whimsy are catalysts for events that are increasingly aggressive,” (www.lizmillerart.com).

Miller uses the exploding and morphing forms to call into question the possibilities that exist in a world that, as she says, “is increasingly complex and multi-layered.” Anyone can feel a great appreciation for Miller’s work. However, she comments that children tend to find the greatest joy in her creations because they are able to put their imaginations to use and see objects such as fish and birds and then relate these objects to the activities of their daily lives.

“Because Miller designed her artwork to interact with the Art Center’s space, the installation invites the viewer to explore the sculpture and view it from a number of different angles from all three floors of the Art Center,” said Al Harris-Fernandez, the Art Center director.

- Mackenzie