Labor, Algorithms, and the work of Liza Lou

The SCAD Museum of Art opened up last week to an exhibition of Liza Lou's beaded 2d and 3d works. She makes her art entirely out of threaded beads, often without the help of any assistants. The piece shown here, Continuous Mile is a mile of beaded rope placed in the form you see (someone inform Guinness). The energy of her work stems from the labor involved in the construction of the pieces. The most exciting work for me was her "2d" work made out of Light Bright looking beads placed on their heads and glued to a flat surface. The image produced was a geometric patterning reminiscent of a computer chip or a really nice rug. I kept thinking of my old days in Computer Science school, endlessly programming various algorithms to create certain effects. Seen in this fashion, her work is not only a meditation on woman's labor but on energy output in general. With computer and mechanical labor slowly becoming more intelligent and capable, what human labor is worth keeping? Apparently cleaning and cooking.

 

Kitchen (1995). Yes this is made entirely out of beads.