Cucullu’s installation centers on a grandly scaled wall drawing made of colorful contact paper. Inspired by the German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) which was made during the period of recovery following the First World War. It was at this time the German film industry was booming in spite of the hard economic times. Filmmakers found it difficult to create movies that could compete with the high production value features coming from the USA. The German UFA studio developed a method of compensating for the lack of high budgets, by using symbolism and mise-en-scène to insert atmosphere and deeper meaning into a movie. The first notable Expressionist films were; The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919), The Golem (1915), and Nosferatu (1922). All were highly symbolic and deliberately studied portrayals of filmed stories.

As an artist Cucullu takes the forms from the film and reshapes their meaning. There is nothing vaguely expressionistic about this installation. The bright colored contact paper evokes more of the artist Lari Pittman than Max Beckmann. The color palette is bright and lyrical not the dark and somber shades of the black and white film. If the wall drawing had been done in grisaille instead of brightly textured contact paper the overall effect would had been more like the film and less like Cucullu. The two figures in the wall drawing are protagonists in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The figure on the north wall is Francis, who sets the plot in motion when he has his fortune told by Cesare the Somnambulist at a traveling carnival. Cesare, who is under the spell of Dr. Caligari, is seen on the east wall, strangely surveying us with the hollow eyes of the hypnotized. Without knowing the film, you can still enjoy the images in their new patchwork quilt like context. As massive as the wall drawing is, the hanging airline blankets from the balcony cordon off the space to provide the viewer the illusion of intimacy. The blankets also evoke a quilt with their contrasting patterns subsuming into a meta harmony.

In stark contrast to the colored cacophony of the wall drawing, the aluminum folding sculptures seem to scream a different strain of modernism from the internationalist style. Large shanks of aluminum are joined together by hinges which look a little fragile for the job. The sculptures themselves can be configured in different ways to suit the space. Cucullu said that installing them was a two person job so as not to warp or break the hinges. The four tables made of wood are from another context. Inspired by the cheap plastic children's tables so beloved of Wal-Mart shoppers, these are left stacked and disassembled with the legs put together to form a line which extends from the floor to the balcony. The wooden boxes or plinths are meant to be moved around allowing the viewer a more active role in the installation. The pillows are playfully placed to prod the viewer into looking at the space anew. [Hint check both sides of the stairwell to find them.]

The artist uses the metaphor of the mix tape to describe his process. This idea just does not do the installation justice. Yes there are different elements like tracks on a CD, but in my mind the entire installation plays more like a symphony and less like They Might Be Giants. The exhibition runs in the East Gallery at the Henry December 17, 2005 – March 12, 2006 Visit the Henry on the web at www.henryart.org