Martin Kersels' exhibition, Heavyweight Champion, at the Santa Monica Museum of Art at Bergamot Station, is in a constant state of motion. The exhibition consists of photographs, sculptures, videos and wall hangings, dealing in one way or another with motion, balance, or gravity. Much of the work is scattered around the perimeter of the museum’s main room with 2 large sculptures, on view for the first time on the west coast, dominating the central space. The first is a giant rotating nest made of branches interwoven with various household objects such as curtains, a chair, a crib and toys. The sculpture evokes a sense of accumulation, collection, and an aim to re-stablize – scattered parts reconfigured into a whole. This sense of stability within the instability is also present in the other large sculptural work entitled, Rickety, which is a large platform supported by various pieces of stacked furniture. Much of Kersels’ work is approached with humor – it is absurd that Rickety stands with such stability, and one would never expect to see a human’s nest - but beyond the humor, the work provokes questions of awkwardness, solitude and the feeling of being different.

The exhibition includes a few other sculptures of more human proportion, one of which, entitled MacArthur Park, consists of wooden pieces and a stereo; it is almost literally a stand-in for the artist’s body. A motor makes wooden balls move up and down, dancing, while the stereo plays the artist’s voice singing three different songs, one of which is “I Will Survive.” This sculpture performs instead of the artist himself. Just beyond this performing sculpture are photographs that perform as well. Sculpted, moving across two walls and meeting in a corner, the various photographs become a “wall of actions” as the artist describes it, portraying images of Kersels’ various performances such as tossing a friend.

Kersels’ work is based in ideas of the physical body, the body in space, so it is quite suiting that Rickety acts as a stage for several performances including a dance entitled Huh?, choreographed by Melinda Ring with dancers Sari Norman and Kimberly Hamlin, which will be performed in November. See www.smmoa.org  for details.

-Anna Ayeroff

(From top to bottom: Dionysian Stage, 2004-5, Willow, aluminum, steel, tractor wheel, motor, found household objects, 115 x 156 x 153", Courtesy of the artist and Galeries Georges-Philippe and, Nathalie Vallois, Paris, Photo: Bruce Morr; Kouros and me (3,4), 2000, Cibachromes, diptych, 47 3/8 x 71 3/8" each. Courtesy of the artist and ACME., Los Angeles, Photo: Bruce Morr; Pink Constellation, 2001, (video still), Single Channel video, sound, 20:16 minutes, Courtesy of the artist and Deitch Projects, New York)