Sticky notes, a laptop, crumpled pieces of paper and a projector projecting film—all of these materials appear in the new Basement Gallery exhibition entitled “Berrien County.” Created by Alex Bond `27, this exhibition is meant to be one where the audience discovers the meaning for themselves.
“One of the things I like most about the art is the interpretative process, and so I don’t want to tell too much,” said Bond.
As with all basement gallery pieces, Berrien County is meant to be an informal show of artwork, allowing all kinds of students to express themselves in a low-stakes environment. Bond, who primarily refers to himself as a writer and has previously been published in The Grinnell Review, explained how changing his primary form of written art to visual art felt much lower pressure than with his usual works.
“It’s been a great opportunity to do whatever I want with this space and know that there’s trust being put in me, but also that it’s not a super high pressure thing,” Bond said.
Despite his new focus on the visual, Bond described the process of creating “Berrien County” as being deeply tied to the writing process, specifically for its relationship to iteration and the social as key points of consideration. In discussing the writing process, Bond detailed what it felt like to continuously throw away old works in order to create an entirely new piece.
Iteration appears as a central theme to Bond’s interpretation of his own work. He also discussed the sociality of all art forms.
“If you’re so invested in a creative project, you kind of have to consciously balance that with your relationship to the outside world. You can’t just be holed up in your room writing 24/7, because then you’ll have nothing to write about,” Bond said.
“Paradoxically by getting more into a creative project, you limit what you can say or what you can do,” he added.
The level of introspection Bond has towards the writing process was channelled into “Berrien County.” Due to the small space of the basement gallery, artists have to make the most of their space to get their point across.
The exhibition’s emphasis on the orientation of the space points to connections between this introspection on writing and presenting visual art. Initially, walking into the room, one is greeted by the laptop and desk on the right wall covered in sticky notes and seeing the crumpled paper doors on the floor in front of you.
Yet, walking fully inside will allow you to see the notes written on the sticky notes covering the left wall, and fully see the projection being displayed on the wall next to the entrance.
Walking in, visitors are first greeted by a desk on the right wall covered in sticky notes and crumpled paper on the floor ahead. Moving further inside reveals notes on the left wall and a projection beside the entrance.
To fully immerse themselves within the piece, the audience must wander around in search of the small details – not all of which are made to be understandable to the viewer.
“There are lots aspects that I know are only interpretable to me that are part of the show,” Bond said. “There are a couple of Post-It Notes that have inside jokes between me and one other person that makes zero sense from an outside perspective.”
One detail he was willing to share involves the title itself. “Berrien County” connects to St. Joseph, Michigan — but it also carries a personal layer. Berrien County contains a city called Niles, the same as Bond’s first name, and one he says he may have a family connection to. It’s the kind of detail most visitors would never find on their own.
“The best part of art is projecting your own self into it, and so I hope that even one person can go into it and come to some new conclusion that I didn’t give them, and so that’s why I don’t want to give too many hard answers… They can go in and do the hard work of interpretation and come out with something unique to them, some product of that creative conversation,” Bond said.
