ART WITH SOMETHING TO SAY

We live in a turbulent time where the world is embroiled in political upheaval, wars and economic challenges. Today’s artists are using those themes as a platform from which to express their creativity and the changing world.

Art has evolved along with technology and the information explosion. It’s a phenomenon local audiences can experience first-hand at the Orange County Museum of Art’s latest exhibit, “Disorderly Conduct: Recent Art in Tumultuous Times.”

It’s often said art is a mirror that reflects culture.

Art records events and people throughout history. It’s a link to the achievements and failures of our ancestors through their eyes.

“Disorderly Conduct” brings together pieces that combine elements of ingenuity, social commentary and humor.

“It shows a broad stretch of different mediums, but it still reflects the rocky times of the post-9/11 era,” said the museum’s Marketing Assistant David Carlson.

The show incorporates traditional mediums like painting and photography with other more unconventional canvases — some of which may push people’s buttons as well as boundaries. The show was curated by the museum’s Karen Moss, who aimed to pull together a show with quality work that’s both timely and message-driven.

The competitive nature of society at large and the contradictory concepts associated with good vs. bad, negative vs. positive, or moral vs. immoral is evident in Glenn Kaino’s bronze chess set, “Learn to Win or You Will Take Losing for Granted.”

The board, constructed of ammunition crates, holds 32 hands, cast in light and dark bronze. The hands on one side of the board display gestures that can be interpreted as culturally acceptable, such as the peace sign, or thumbs up.

Hands on the other side form a gang salute, a jutted middle finger and clenched fists.

“The House that America Built” is a life-size replica of the infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s shack-like house.

The Daniel Joseph Martinez piece is painted in squares of Martha Stewart Signature Paint colors.

The house was built to Martinez’s specifications inside the gallery and is a humorous nod to two second-generation Polish-Americans who ended up in prison.

Martin Kersels’ “Tumble Room” is an aptly named work. A teenage girl’s bedroom, decorated and furnished, is built within a rotating wheel.

The wheel spun the room while the furniture inside flew about and crashed until it was reduced to splinters and rubble at the museum show’s Saturday opening.

“There was dust flying out all over the room,” said Chivan Wang, the museum’s public relations associate.

“It was a living art piece.”

The room and its debris will be spun at different times throughout the exhibit.

Kersels also produced a short film using “Tumble Room,” which plays in the gallery exhibit along with an example of his photography.

Mike Kelley’s “Gospel Rocket” project incorporates video in the display, as projectors depict a group wearing gospel choir robes around a large missile — also draped in the robes.

The commentary on war and religion may seem blasphemous to some, so pieces like “Gospel Rocket” and political works like Karen Finley’s study of Condoleezza Rice may be a bit controversial.

Then again, controversy, much like art, is often a matter of interpretation.

With shows like “Disorderly Conduct,” Orange County audiences are being exposed to an art form they might not have been familiar with before. The themes are older than time.

“Disorderly conduct has been part of this nation from its very birth,” Carlson said.

IF YOU GO

What: “Disorderly Conduct: Recent Art in Tumultuous Times.”

When: Through May 25. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with extended hours from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursdays.

Where: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach.

Cost: Free.

Information: Call (949) 759-1122 or visit www.ocma.net.

SUE THOENSEN may be reached at (714) 966-4627 or at [email protected].