Last Chance

Catch it or regret it

by Holly Otterbein

The Clay Studio

Joanie Turbek suffers no illusions about her art's place in the world: Cupcakes, she knows from experience, always trump it.

As part of her "Minor Malfunction" exhibit, she cast a basketful of porcelain cupcakes, baked the same amount of ordinary edible cupcakes, and asked strangers which they preferred for $2.50 each. Not a single person took the fakes.

"Sometimes art is not the answer," says Turbek. "All artists have a very strong belief in what they're doing, but it's important to play around with that belief a little bit. Sometimes people just want to eat a cupcake."

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Her installation pieces also courageously ask viewers to assess their worth — until, as Turbek puts it, "they realize how pleasant they are." Prosthetic Lawn (pictured) is a snow angel-shaped chunk of grass that you can lie on in the gallery, while Being Close to Disaster & Other Things that Make You Feel Lucky provides the willing with a tent to sit under as artificial rain drips on them. The latter is so peaceful it'll hush even the biggest contemporary art critics.

When I suggest that she may be able to monetize these simulated natural occurrences in the dystopic future, Turbek insists that her work isn't meant to have such a dark tenor. "I'm more optimistic than that," she says. "I just want to create a really rich, temporary experience for people." Ends Nov. 29, The Clay Studio, 139 N. Second St., 215-925-3453, theclaystudio.org.

To paraphrase, Jeff Koons has said that his Balloon Dog — a metal sculpture that looks just like a clown-made balloon dog, only much larger — is all in good fun, and nothing more. Jason Hackenwerth's exhibit, "The Titan and the Fireflies," is similarly lighthearted. Only Hackenwerth's sculptures, fashioned out of hundreds and hundreds of actual balloons, represent aliens, underwater creatures and the stuff of ebullient dreams — shapes the average clown hasn't yet mastered. Ends Nov. 28, 2424 Studios, 2424 E. York St., 215-423-1800, 2424studios.com.