"Firework Drawing 1"  2002, lit fireworks on paper 7'5" x 10'4"  photo by Tom Van Eynde

 Rosemarie Fiore, Bruce Willis and the Politics of Fun

Some years ago Rosemarie and I decided to go see one of those summertime
sci-fi special effects extravaganzas. The movie was a Bruce Willis vehicle
named Armageddon and the plot revolved around a group of outcasts (would-be
heroes) fighting a doomsday threat - a large asteroid approaching earth.
Before paying for admission Rose decided we should get drunk in order to
condition ourselves to have fun.

Rose makes art in the same way she takes in her summer blockbusters. Not
drunk, but determined to be entertained and to entertain at all costs. The
need of a hook has led her work to become visually loud, aggressive and
loaded with sexual innuendoes that seem to be abstract views of a tantric
experience preserved in time.

Thinking of power and gender roles, Fiore constructed a large lasso (a rodeo
rope) covered with glass mirrors. The sculpture spins from the ceiling
creating a party like atmosphere that serves to induce a state of dizziness.

Fiore examines the spectacle and excess of the Reagan years by collaborating
with Gyruss, a popular 80's Atari video game. The outcome is a series of
photos documenting the intense battle of artist vs. machine. This mapping
exercise (using one photograph to record the entire game on the screen)
captures a fun, yet tense time in the search of victory and a high score.

Taking the role of a psychic, Fiore trivializes violence for the sake of
spectacle in an installation of rubbings on paper. The rubbings are derived
from guns found at pawnshops in New Mexico. Here, Fiore has transformed the
inherently evil aura of the guns into gentle graphite drawings resembling
snowflakes. The massive installation of these drawings seems like an
approaching snowstorm from far way, but once in close range it translates
into a scary image as the viewer discovers what these flakes are actually
made of.

Rosemarie's accomplishment lies in the fact that it gives sculpture and
performance a broader definition. It's largely based on craft and not
conceptual trickery or fantasized narratives. Her work promotes the idea
that entertainment can also be meaningful without losing its fun. And that
is much better than being drunk at a Bruce Willis movie.

Pedro Velez
Chicago, 2002

"Disco Lasso" in progress, 2002  photo by Nancy Fleming