Tim Shaw exhibit contrasts with peaceful Balboa Park

‘Mother the Air is Blue, the Air is Dangerous’ installation by Tim Shaw

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree…

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

SAN DIEGO — The words of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem could well apply to San Diego’s stately Balboa Park, with its landscaped grounds, and 17 museums dedicated to different subjects, as well as centers for music, theater, recreational activities, and of course food.

The founding fathers did well to see to the cultural and social needs of the residents of the city as well as those of visitors, and it would take several lifetimes to absorb all the delights on offer in the park. While on a brief visit to the city, I was able to visit the Museum of Art and take in just some of the exhibitions there, where pride of place is currently being given to the remarkable art installation by world-renowned sculptor, Tim Shaw.

In a darkened space the spectator is confronted by a miniature ‘stage’ on which mysterious figures are displayed, possibly evoking ancient religious rituals, or some imagined creatures from outer space. In an installation titled “Mother The Air is Blue, The Air is Dangerous” overturned tables and chairs, and a large screen portray the scene in a café or restaurant just after a terror attack has taken place. Indistinct figures are fleeing the site, which is enveloped in a mist, possibly the aftermath of an explosion.

Shaw, who was born in Belfast in 1964, when the ‘Troubles’ (violent clashes between supporters of Protestant and Catholic factions) were raging in Ireland, was a child when he witnessed one such attack when a bomb exploded in a café where he was sitting with his mother. Evidently traumatized by the event, he has sought in this installation to evoke the sense of pain, disorientation and terror the situation aroused in him. In so doing he brings to the forefront of the viewer’s mind similar events that have been happening all over the world in recent years. No-one can consider themselves safe these days, as terror attacks seem to occur with alarming frequency in what formerly were peaceful towns and cities.

Danger lurks everywhere, seems to be Shaw’s message, and no-one is safe from potential harm. The world as we once knew it is no more, and we must all be on our guard at all times. That is a difficult message to absorb in the peaceful setting of Balboa Park, with its green lawns, shady seating areas, and generally civilized atmosphere. One can only hope that this lovely site is not subjected to any of the horrors that Tim Shaw has portrayed, and that its tranquility is never disturbed.

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Shefer-Vanson is a freelance writer based in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion, Israel.  She may be contacted via dorothea.shefer@sdjewishworld.com