Drying Flowers in a Microwave: Corin Hewitt @ Dorsch Gallery

 

Corin Hewitt’s practice fuses photography, sculpture and the sort of critical inquiry into the classification of natural and cultural objects normally undertaken by scientists and spirited amateur collectors. At Dorsch Gallery until June 5, an exhibit of Hewitt’s carefully arranged still-life photography entitled “Drying Flowers in a Microwave” features studio shots of flower arrangements with a formalist bent.

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Installation view of Drying Flowers in a Microwave May 8, 2010

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Installation view of Drying Flowers in a Microwave May 8, 2010

Anyone entering the gallery on opening night was confronted with four empty walls, and a curious crowd craning their necks upward. One of the walls was shorter than the rest and revealed an inaccessible chamber at the back of the gallery where, with the assistance of mirrors hung strategically from the ceiling, viewers could access cropped partial reflections of the artist as he pondered and composed the arrangements.

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Untitled #1 from Drying Flowers in a Microwave May 8, 2010

During the first weeks of the show, Hewitt busied himself with collecting specimens, drying and arranging them in the sequestered production area, and printing the photos that were eventually displayed on the gallery walls. The plant matter he manipulated to form the sculptures was collected in Vermont and Miami. In the following video, recorded at historic Palm Lodge near Homestead, we join Hewitt as he gathers plant material for his project, explains how to dry flowers in the microwave, and ruminates on life, death and biology.