"Happy's Nightmare," the art exhibit currently on display in the Lightwell Gallery at the Center for the Arts, is like watching a scary movie in the middle of the afternoon.
You come out of the theater and your eyes become blinded by the sun because you have spent the last hour and a half in a dark theater, with dark beings, in an old dark mansion. And after you leave, the light seems worse than the darkness from whence you came.
An exposed, three-story, multimedia piece created by sculptor Patrick Robideau and performance artist Kurt Von Voetsch, "Happy's Nightmare" is a dark and disturbing look at the world of a man who is troubled by his own weight. There are two parts to the exhibit: the top floor, which is set up like an old room, and the bottom part, which is a cave. The sections are connected by a hole in the floor.
The upper level gives a gross realization of the artist's message. A picture of an overweight young man is hung above the fireplace, easily the focal point of the room. Although it looks as if the artist tried to age the picture to fit in with the room's antiquated style, the authenticity of the photograph is not in doubt.
Scattered around the room are striking images and representations of obesity. There are two statues of elephants that are on the mantle directly underneath the picture. On the wall is a boar's head, followed by a pig, and a hoof in glass, all in descending order. Residing on a table is a human hand, also in glass.
In contrast to these overweight symbols, there are masks placed around the room. These are thin, beautiful, the ideal. The combination creates an ongoing battle between fat and thin within the room. The subject is obviously obsessed with the ideal and unable to escape what he feels is his doomed state of being.
Despite the overt creepiness of the room, the viewer is compelled to look around and get caught in its atmosphere. The only problem is the distraction of the lights behind, which uncomfortably moves a viewer from their state of contemplation. Anyone who goes to see this should bring sunglasses to put on after they are done.
Furthermore, traveling downstairs to the cave, you lose some sense of the world the artist has created. It could have used an inside stairwell to descend, instead of having to go outside the exhibit to reach the cave.
The most visible image in the cave is an unidentified creature hanging on the wall. An ominous monster, this being looks as if it were made up of burnt flesh. The cave also has its own soundtrack, featuring loud, electronic, piercing noises.
But the true nightmare is not the cave. It's the room overhead with its powerful symbols of obesity and perfection. Constantly being reminded of the cause of the problem seems much worse than the seclusion of the cave. The cave simply represents the classic setting of a nightmare.
The piece will close this Friday with a performance by Voetsch, beginning at 7 p.m. Be sure to check out this wonderful exhibit before it's gone.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
