Transamerican

For many road maps conjure up the image of old trips in the family car. For others maps reenforce the feeling of freedom, that you can at any time go anywhere. Maps encompass all of that and more and this is the subject matter/material through which American artist Matthew Cusick has chosen to convey his ideas.  “Transamerican”, roughly 4'x6' is shown in “Borders and Frontiers: Collage and Appropriation in the Contemporary Image”. The show, curated by Dick Goody features collage artists as the name implies. Other pieces in the exhibition include some that show collages created from billboards, some created through the meticulous cutting of currency, and others through photo-collage. 

Matthew’s pieces are composed of maps that have been deconstructed to create the image of classic american cars. The sliced pieces of paper create a beautiful mosaic. Using different colored map sections a car is rendered *in* the map, which is important to point out. The map creates the image of a car but that is only because we recognize the placement and variations as one. You can see shapes and images in a unedited map too, but they do not carry the same weight as these specifically placed ones. If someone never had seen a car, they would not inherently see the map as altered. 

The piece reminds me of stained glass, not only due to its obvious visual parallels but because how it ensnares a feeling. Stained glass is used to portray old events and bring about emotion. No matter what what is being presented is representative of an event (at least in representational stained glass). For some seeing the image of the Virgin Mary in stained glass can bring about contemplation of religion and for me this picture of a vintage Trans Am brings up visions of adventure. Seeing all of the spidering freeways and backroads excites me. I am reminded of the auto heritage of Michigan, even if the map is of somewhere else. I have a personal connection.

For me, having grown up around what is essentially the birth place of the American auto industry I have that aforementioned instant connection to this piece. Not everyone understands the effect the auto industry had in the formation of our road systems. While not a part of history overflowing with forethought, they are why cars are more entrenched than railway, due to their lobbying. Aside from that however they created the cars that allowed people to spread out and carve out a part of the US that was their own. The automobile propelled the American Dream and bolstered our spirit of adventure. Just as the exhibition name implies, the automobile allowed for the “frontier” to be tackled.

By using a material that everyone has come in to contact all viewers can have a response to the piece. I know that the differences in how the show would be viewed between someone only a few years younger than I and myself would be vast. I am on the tail end of young people who still made use of maps regularly before the advent of GPS systems. In some regards the use of a physical paper map antiquates the piece. This is a piece where its viewing years from now will really be different than now.

Of the pieces found at the “Borders and Frontiers” I think that “Transamerican” embodies the theme of the show the best. It wraps up imagery, history, and emotion all into one. You cannot find a better embodiment of  the modern “frontier” than an old American muscle car. I think the choice of old cars on an old method of navigation brings about nostalgia that is easily paralleled to the nostalgia of the old west and setting out into the unknown.