A brisk return for Consolidated Works

There was a palpable buzz of energy at last Friday's visual-art opening of the Winter Series at Consolidated Works. Part of it may have been that ladders were still being moved around, lighting adjusted and the floors swept just two minutes before the public walked in. But mainly it was the art — works that throb, glow, chatter and screech — that generated the electric feeling. And that's important for Consolidated Works right now, as it feels its way into a new incarnation under the guidance of director Corey Pearlstein, who took the helm in September.

ConWorks is a multidisciplinary venue with an impressive, but turbulent, track record of presenting cutting-edge contemporary theater, music, film and visual arts. The huge site, a former warehouse in the Cascade District, has been intermittently devoid of programming since ConWorks founder and former director Matthew Richter was fired by the board of trustees last February, causing great concern in the arts community. Clearly, this first round of programming is important in letting the public know what ConWorks has to offer now.

A strong mix

Which, from the looks of things, is a lot. The Winter Series presents an eclectic and very strong mix of works by big names and emerging artists. The anchor of the show is "Accordions," a joltingly poetic video and sound installation by internationally known, Seattle-based artist Gary Hill.

Occupying three gallery spaces is work by the quirky and critically acclaimed musician/artist/activist collective Negativland. A loop of Negativland's funny, weird videos reveals how they boldly sample and assemble pop-culture sources. Other works piece together found objects, sounds and texts to create provocative messages about our lives. ConWorks has also brought in a raw, powerful, mixed-media installation by Bread and Puppet Theater, known for its socially conscious, massively-scaled puppet performances.

New talent

Emerging talent is represented by local artists Monika Proffitt and Alan Hurley.

Proffitt's beautiful, technically complex installation "The River Project" offers a sensuous, calming reprieve from the more aggressive works elsewhere.

Hurley, whose murals can be seen in Seattle, Kitsap's County's Poulsbo and Los Angeles, was commissioned by ConWorks to create work for the "large-scale urban works" space — basically, a section of the long and narrow bar area. It's an interesting curatorial move, hanging really big works in a space that is so narrow. You can't get very far away from Hurley's huge, vibrant paintings, adding to the in-your-face-ness of the exhibition as a whole.

"Made-up sort of space"

Most of these artists also share an interest in technology, and many of their works contain different media and push beyond the boundaries of static, silent, self-contained art objects. Negativland and Bread and Puppet Theater will be performing at ConWorks in March.

Technology is a theme that kept arising in Pearlstein's early conversations with staff members and artists about what ConWorks might be and how it could reflect its location in the increasingly high-tech area of South Lake Union.

Freelance project specialist Luara Moore coordinated the Urban Art space, and Dan Bartell, who began as a freelance consultant, is responsible for bringing in Gary Hill and Negativland as key figures for the show. Initially working within the music industry, Bartell jumped into the visual-arts scene four years ago. He had some very definite ideas about what ConWorks might contribute, so he approached Pearlstein in November.

Bartell is now a ConWorks curator and will orchestrate a lot of the visual-arts programming in the future, working with input from Pearlstein. Bartell believes that ConWorks is "not like any other place in Seattle," a sentiment backed up by Negativland's Mark Hosler, who was excited about exhibiting in this "in between, hybridized, made-up sort of place."

Restructuring the space

Pearlstein wants to beef up visual-arts programming so that anytime people come for theater or music performance, they also will be drawn into a visual-arts experience. To encourage exploration of the entire site, ConWorks has been physically restructured, while its raw, industrial feel thankfully remains. An immense, wide-open space showcases big-name artists or large-scale works, and smaller, distinct gallery spaces are devoted to showing local, national and international artists on a rotating basis.

It's been a tremendous amount of work to pull all of this together, and you might wonder why the Winter Series ends in less than a month. The answer is simple scheduling. ConWorks pulls in revenue by renting out various spaces, and Pearlstein wanted to honor March commitments that had been made before his arrival. The next big show will be in the fall.