This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 28, 2011 - At White Flag Projects, "Elements of Style" by Los Angeles-based Karthik Pandian is the third part of a trilogy of works that reflect generally on archeology and anthropology, and specifically on Cahokia Mounds.
"Cahokia Byobu (Broken Screen)" (2011) is a series of monumental rammed-earth pillars interspliced with panels of mirrored glass, standing in a diagonal formation that bisects the main gallery space. Their purpose is elusive: They may be the remains of a prehistoric henge culture, where they might have served some ritual function; or they may merely be the dross generated by an archeological dig, fashioned into sleek, minimalist, decorative displays.
The earthen surfaces reveal seductive yet baffling details: striations of shells, glass shards, magenta-colored mason's line (the string used to grid off archeological excavation sites) and strands of 16-mm film. The mirrored glass panels extend the aesthetic sensibility of the sculpture while they serve as a metaphor of the anthropological enterprise: our scrutiny of the subject primarily reflects ourselves.
Other works in the trilogy have been exhibited recently at the Whitney Museum in New York and at Midway Contemporary Art in Minneapolis, and have been more complex affairs, involving projected film. The White Flag exhibit, which includes a digital audio file and two related sculptures exhibited in the library, is somewhat scaled back but nonetheless represents the full conceptual reach of this fascinating project.
Ivy Cooper, a professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, is the Beacon art critic.