Installation view of “Bianca Bondi: A Preservation Method” at Dallas Contemporary.
In many ways, it feels like there is a never-ending fight between humans and nature. Who is in control? This fight feels even more present, at the point of a crescendo, given the current wildfires that are devastating the Texas Panhandle. Bianca Bondi: A Preservation Method embodies a silent struggle. In this installation, Bondi uses the 1965 Highway Beautification Act, a law that limits billboards, advertising, and junk yards along interstate highways, as the origin of a micro-narrative. The narrative that helps us to narrow our lens to one small space to have a more intimate encounter with the struggles playing out between the human-made and the land.
Installation view of “Bianca Bondi: A Preservation Method” at Dallas Contemporary.
The question at the heart of the exhibition is what unintended consequences we have on the land, even when we have the best of intentions. Bondi constructed a billboard, seemingly discarded along with other metal scraps, in a salt-filled junkyard. Salt is a signature element in Bondi’s multi-disciplinary style, which blends science and spiritual energy. Truly, the material creates a sense of magic in the space. Upon walking in, visitors note a difference in the air, a change that engages the nose and skin, effectively transporting and immersing them into a separate time and place. The salt also acts as a change agent upon the work, creating crystalline formations on the metal as it rapidly oxidizes. What is most beautiful about the installation is the role of nature. Throughout the space, visitors find wildflowers and plants standing tall through the salt and metal. Against the odds, nature persists and continues to fight back against the damage caused by humans.
Installation view of “Bianca Bondi: A Preservation Method” at Dallas Contemporary.
The description of Bondi’s work as “future archaeology” is apt in capturing the feel of this installation. There is a blurring of past and potential, one that leaves visitors feeling as if they have journeyed into apocalyptic space. Yet, it does not veer into the cliché. There is an open-ended quality to the artist’s approach; an opening that is left for visitors to reflect. What future would we like to create? Could we persist and survive in the environments we are currently creating? Bondi plays with reflective materials in this exhibition, as she has in previous installations, including reflective salt-water pools. These mirrored elements reference the ancient practice of scrying, which involves looking into a reflective surface to see visions or guidance for the future. I encourage visitors to take a moment and face the reflection of the past, future, and present in this exhibition, to see what path they would like to follow. Perhaps we all will take a moment to pay more attention to the silent struggles facing the land, before the volume ratchets up louder than we can bear.
Bianca Bondi: A Preservation Method is on view at Dallas Contemporary through March 17, 2024.
