April 2022: Christiane Drieling
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“There Is So Much More”
About performance artist Elizabeth Sheeler, by Christiane Drieling
The Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB) in Ruston has partnered with “ART ON 45” (a Ruston-based juried visual art project with a fundraising aspect) this year to help grow the dialogue between sighted and blind people through art. In this context I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with blind artist and former LCB student Elizabeth Sheeler, learn about her exciting doings and goals, and exchange views and perspectives about art.
Elizabeth is an MFA candidate and about to graduate from the University of Wisconsin. She grew up in Fayetteville, AR with an artistic father who taught her how to draw. “We spent a lot of time drawing together and I continued my drawing at junior high where I took art classes. My passion was not so much in drawing though. I enjoyed making 3-D objects, not necessarily clay objects but larger constructions. For example I built an architecture with old digital cameras.”
As an undergrad art student at University of Arkansas she continued to experiment with uncommon approaches. For her painting class she utilized a human sized hamster wheel which, when in action, would bust bags of paint to create large abstract paintings on the ground. Elizabeth majored in Sculpture but came to realize that 3-D was not the only route for a blind artist but that she truly was a performance artist looking for new ways to express herself as well as for new ways to involve her audience.
One strong focus of Elizabeth’ art projects is on interaction, while making art accessible as an everyday experience whenever possible. Supported and encouraged by the open-minded teachers at the LCB she was able to transform the preparation of a “Meal for Eight” (a regular practice for every LCB student) into an interactive art experience: She made a table cover, place mats, and plates from various edible doughs, created cups from solid chocolate and napkins from fruit leather, and then she invited her fellow students to sit down at the table on popcorn chairs to eat everything up.
Elizabeth is currently working on her MFA show with a fascinating sound-based art project for which she chose a prominent and high-traffic intersection close to the university in Madison, Wisconsin as the setting. This art project called “Between Your Skin and Air, Everyone Speaks a Secret Language” is experienced solely via headphones in an empty space: An audio plays sounds as if you were walking near an intersection with the intention to cross the road.
The main show is taking place at University of Wisconsin, while a satellite show named “It Was Filled with Emptiness but if You Take a Listen” has been set up in Ruston at Creative Exchange Gallery. During the show, the two galleries are connected with each other through an interactive feature: Once in a while the audio stops and then invites the visitor to have a short live direct communication with another visitor at the other gallery. The randomness of encounters with a stranger at the other end can lead to awkward dialog – such scenarios seem to be similar to everyday experiences of the blind when coming across a sighted person offering orientation and assistance.
“Performance art plays an important role in contemporary art,” Elizabeth says. “Visual art is important, of course, and not exclusively for the ones who have vision. But there is so much more besides visual art. The contemporary art movement strives for more interaction, more multimedia, more involvement of all senses, more immediate communication with the audience, the whole experience.”
Picture 1
Caption: A man in a 9' hamster wheel is about to move across a concrete ground covered with bags containing paint.
Picture 2
Caption: Sheeler's "Meal for 8" at the Louisiana Center for the Blind. Eight LCB students are sitting on popcorn-filled bags around a large table which is covered with edible table settings.
Picture 3
Caption: Sheeler's "Meal for 8." The photo shows the individual place setting with table cloth, place mat, and plate made of doughs, a chocolate cup and two dipping sauces.
Picture 4
Caption: A photo from Elizabeth Sheeler's previous show called "Broken Cane Tips." It represents a similar environment to the one for her current MFA show. The photo shows two women with canes and headsets standing in different spots in an empty room.
Picture 5
Caption: A large and complete empty space with white walls and concrete floor and no windows is shown. One door is located at the end of the room.
In this kind of setting Sheeler's audio projects are taking place.
Picture 6
Picture: Elizabeth sits knitting in a gallery. The end of her knitting is connected to a machine with a button. The viewer is allowed to walk up and press the button; when they do, the knitting unravels. The longer they press the button, the more it unravels.
(Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Sheeler)