Untitled

Browning said in an interview that his inspiration for these grids was the tradition of whittling whimsies. “A trick style of carving that was popularized during the Great Depression and often employed by folks who were out of work and traveling, producing objects for amusement or in exchange for meals.”

Matt Browning intentionally made his work easy to overlook. He said “the works have ways to hide right where they are. I’ll break up the sculptures in groups of one, two, three, and four instead of a long series of 10 works. Also, they’re works of 18 inches square that’ll go on very tall walls. The scale itself implies some self-effacing. The form does too: For many viewers, the grid is so legible that you move past it more quickly.”

Browning hand carved all these grids with chain like interlocking pieces. His intensive process is a subtle retort to the ease of mass production and the pressures of the market. Through practicing the slow craft of woodcarving Browning shows that art still has value unaffiliated with market success. These grids would be far less impressive if they were glued together or 3D printed; Untitled’s value lies in its production. 

If I hadn’t read about Browning’s work I would assume Untitled was machine fabricated or not well made. My impatience would have prevented me from appreciating the craft techniques Browning used, and because of that I would miss most of the meaning behind these grids. 
On this website Browning’s work is simultaneously the most focused on craft and, due to its impracticality, the closest to fine art. Work that falls closer to the craft end of the spectrum, like Cianciolo, Esparza, Smith, and Reaves, is often made from necessity and the final product serves a purpose beyond being art. In Smith, Esparza, and de Nieves’ work we saw craft as a vessel for story telling. While process is important to all the work in this show, unlike the other artists, process is the whole point of Browning’s contribution to the biennial.

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