Functional dysfunction

Stephen Litchfield, John Benvenuto, Brent Oglesbee and Katherine Bennett
Indianapolis Art Center
Through Aug. 14

It works like this: You walk into the room and follow a tangle of electrical cords along the wall, pass a sconce-like square of metal concealing a light bulb, which proceeds to flicker somewhat randomly and distractingly; then you pass through a scrim of fabric to the next, and similar, contraption, to the same effect. Then you do it again, and emerge out the other end — at the entrance to the gallery.

'Lies in Drawers' by John Benvenuto is on view at the Indianapolis Art Center.

Katherine Bennett’s “Turn Me On,” an installation on view now at the Indianapolis Art Center, has enlightening aims: “The unification of a viewer’s movements in a space with light and sound creates landscapes of charged emotions and feelings,” she writes. “I seek to engage the viewers’ presence as they resolve these themes from their primal intuitions and instincts.”

There’s a disconnection, though, between what Bennett strives for on behalf of the viewer and the actual experience. The electrical cords along the walls are chaotic and distracting, as if someone forgot to place them behind the wall, or fasten them together. Certainly it detracted from any potential emotional or ethereal response — the lights were too grounded in their mechanics. Bennett’s other light-inspired works (none of which were on view here) may be more compelling reminders of light’s metaphorical value, but here, it just doesn’t reach that feeling level.

In the next room, Brent Oglesbee’s “Field of Pragmatics” is also an exercise in electrical-mechanical wizardry — except that in this case, there’s a method to the madness. Oglesbee finely constructs a scenario whereby an industrial strength floor polisher is attached to several wooden “sheds” by way of a string or wire, and the wire is pulled back and forth, rhythmically at random intervals. The suggestion, of course, is the opposite of Bennett’s, and yet ironically explains why it doesn’t work: “These works replicate disparities between the plans we make and the results of our labor,” he writes, also suggesting a redemptive quality: “… I am equally concerned with presenting our interspersed moments of grace, or at least diligence.”

Down in the main gallery, the two artists Stephen Litchfield and John Benvenuto are paired to present Re-Use, another exercise in perception. Litchfield’s re-imagined chairs are a delight. The artist reemploys the chairs — down to the cushion or leather-backed upholstery — to retain their aesthetic integrity, but to be dysfunctional. Part of the series “Revised Standard Versions,” the chairs are intended to play on the biblical reference. As Litchfield puts it, “The objects are still recognizable as chairs, but the revisions often make the piece nonfunctional for most traditional chair-users similar to revisions of traditional biblical texts.” Indeed.

Finally, Benvenuto’s found-object constructions, single installation and paintings share this space, but not as delightfully. Benvenuto does some good stuff: In one case, a drawer (or the suggestion of one) emerges from a painting; and in another, drawers emerge as suggestions from a found-wood construction. Benvenuto’s wrecking balls, symbolizing the force of change and destruction, are perhaps his loveliest offerings here. The cracked metal orb could be a single pellet from the core of the Earth, fiery hot and ready to play ball.

While the Art Center is to be commended for presenting innovative conceptual work by regional and national artists, Bennett, at least, may need to do some fine-tuning back at her light board.

The work of Stephen Litchfield, John Benvenuto, Brent Oglesbee and Katherine Bennett is on view through Aug. 14 at the Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th St., 255-2464 or www.indplsartcenter.org.