Visiting the CAC

    This summer I visited the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center and I saw one exhibit that was particularly popular this summer. At the CAC I saw Ugo Rondinone’s “Let’s start the day again,” installation. This exhibition was very grandiose and yet so detail oriented. While I walked through, I joked that I felt like one of the clowns was a real person waiting to jump out at me. The artist definitely captured a very realistic image of the human. The fact that each clown looked almost the same helped me make sense of the title of this show. The brightly colored walls gave me a sense of discomfort and a feeling that I can only describe as “headachey” which I think was Rondinone’s goal, considering the melancholy state of the clowns’ disposition.
      I think the artist was successful in evoking a feeling through this installation, and I liked how the clowns, being such comedic icons, were portrayed as very pensive and almost depressed. It was clear that the brightly colored walls were supposed to mirror the ideas portrayed by the clowns. In both instances, something with a fun connotation was so harshly displayed and unignorable to the viewer, which caused a groggy, almost melancholy feeling. It seems retroactive, but helps to accomplish that feeling of discomfort. If I’m being honest, I didn’t really like this show, but I do think it’s fair to say that the artist accomplished the goal of the exhibition (assuming, of course, that my interpretation was correct.)