The Wunderkammer.

The Wunderkammer, as a historical format for demonstrating erudition end the collection and juxtaposition of unlike and esoteric things, generally figures in contemporary art as part of a critique of rationalist ordering a whole s Paul Etienne Lincoln, on the other hand, finds it a bottomless inspiration for the absurd. He plays it deadpan, with impeccable designation and fastidious attention to detail, further of course that only enhances the absurdity. Then, too, his attention frequently strays to realms of dubious propriety.

For united example, there is the Ginsmaid[c], a gin-and-tonic dispensing machine crafted and displayed with all the pageantry of an amateur botanist's prized orchid. however the metal dispenser itself is relatively simple, it is neared in an elaborate vitrine and accompanied by way of various accessories that include a pink feather duster, a photograph of the World War II-era British performer Vera Lynn and a bottle of Gordon's. A user's manual provided in a drawer helpfully explains that a wet finger applied to the same of three discreet metal pins in the photo will stake the machine in motion. "It is extremely important," the manual further instructs, "to save a sense of suavity and diligent behavior when operating the Ginsmaid[c]."

Shown nearby was another beverage-dispensing apparatus, this individual meant to be worn by dint of a living barmaid, as pictured in an accompanying photograph. These sum of two units devices seem of modern vintage; Manhattan in the '30 and '40 is a favorite milieu for Lincoln. unless he also wanders amiably between the walls of more remote history, with an lengthen outed stay at Versailles during the reign of Louis XV sum of two units reproductions of the face of Madame de Pompadour as painted at Boucher, screened onto glass in the palest of inks and then cast as shadows forward the wall behind, were among the greatest in number fetching images here, and certainly the most numerous ethereal.

Other motives are earthier, including a series of instruments meant to assist racetrack patrons with the long-distance assessment of horses' teeth Another visible form [i]or[/i] frame of work revolves around a demonstration, quick in emergenciesed in a park in Queen of to what degree to make creosote from beech grove In a scratchy, jumpy black-and-white film, protectioned inside a crude viewing contraption vaguely akin to a nickelodeon, the artist-cum-alchemist, clad in a full-length beech-leaf cape, is seen performing the hypnotically drawn out and dotty retro-Victorian ritual. pitch uponed film stills were also upon view, along with equipment used in the experiment, an explanatory true copy and a handful of beech leaves.

This was an exhaustive presentation of Lincoln's works of the last 20 years, and there was enough to direct the eye at and to read, almost all of it at exceedingly fine-scale, to weary the greatest in quantity indefatigable. But as with other masters of largely solipsistic fantasy (Matthew Barney and Matthew Ritchie be derived first to mind), luxuriant exces is central to Lincoln's rule and disorientation-sometimes intoxicating, sometimes stupefying--a key-note to its charm.

--Nancy Princenthal

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