Look closely at the architecture of the gallery and the installation equipment: the shape and the height of the walls, the corners, the lighting, the sound. How do these elements affect the way the work is shown? How do they affect your experience of it?
The mounting of the batons by Gabriela Salazar against the curved wall of the Panorama made me think of the migrational patterns of whales. I think the analogy to police batons is forced and takes away from the creative potential of the work. The nonfixed status of the material engaged me for more than this scripted reference.
What’s a lesson that one work could learn from another?
Gabriela Salazar could learn from the kid’s workshop not to force meaning to be literal. I love how fluidly Gabo Camnitzer captured a child point of view. I am very touched by the tenderness of this installation—yet also how truthfully the children defined evil—as an act done unto (i.e. the folding of the cloth) w/o the foresight of understanding (i.e. me as the viewer not understanding the pattern).
—Anna on Gabriela Salazar’s Hook Crook, Fair Foul and Gabo Camnitzer’s Evil Shapes
The People's Guide to the Queens International 