On The DL

Contemplative Spaces


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Published: Jul 15, 2008

Opening reception Fri., July 18, 7 p.m., exhibit runs through Oct. 26, $15 for non-members, free for members, James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, 215-340-9800, michenermuseum.org

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There's a Zen monastery vibe to James Fuhrman's sculptures. They are plain geometric shapes, rendered in plain wood, but constructed so massively as to become meditative. Mix in some lengthy titles that read like excerpts from Alan Watts (try out Revealed Lines in an Ancient Tree — Infinite Space: Unknowable) and you've got a lot to quietly ponder.

The aforementioned piece — an oblong, floor-to-ceiling stretch of husky, stained cedar — showed at the Gershman Y gallery earlier this year and is part of "Contemplative Spaces," an installation of Fuhrman's work at the Michener Art Museum. As was the case at the Gershman, Fuhrman will be joined at Michener by avant-percussionist Toshi Makihara, whose performance at Friday night's opening will use the sculptures as his sound source.

This involves neither traditional instruments nor electronic amplification, but simply Makihara standing before the pieces and reacting to their immensity. He taps his knuckles along their faces like a tabletop drummer, fixating on the different tones he creates by pattering on different areas. He makes a ghostly swirl of white noise by sweeping his hands across the grain. His mallets hum as he runs them slowly up the wood edges. The inner peace you'll achieve through this mix of physical art and sound art will make a trek to Doylestown very much worthwhile.