The Renaissance had us equating the frame of a painting with the frame of a window. One frames reality while the other frames its replication. Today we look at window and picture frames and see only a hole in an otherwise solid expanse of wall. Horn has taken the idea of the hole and the wall and tweaked both in a unique way. The result is a visual presentation that is thought provoking, in the most delightful manner.
Here we see 'purpose made' miniature sections of walls, window frames and doors that lead to the world of imagination, provided we have the key. To unlock the mystery just look at the titles. The exhibition's title tells us these works are hung to enhance an otherwise boring architectural support for a ceiling. And indeed, many people think of art as merely wall decoration and buy posters or paintings to clutter up the place or colour co-ordinate with soft furnishings.
I have to applaud not only Horn's ability to craft such architectural features as moulded architraves, false buttresses, decorative cornices, skirting boards, windows and doors in the small scale, but also his tongue in cheek comment on art and life. For example, some works include a small framed digital image hung along side the construction adding a sense of profundity to the exhibit. It's akin to the written validation or 'artist's statement' that so often accompanies exhibits in galleries. But The Universality of Taste! needs no explanation. This exhibit involves a window frame painted psychedelic blue while through the four glass planes we glimpse a piece of hot pink and orange paisley wall paper. In the 1970's interior decorators, fashion designers and soft furnishings manufacturers on three continents proudly produced this type of fare - and it's coming back!
The well constructed doorway to paradise with steps neatly strewn with gold dust or perhaps plain dirt, of Mr. Hubbard's Second Visit is a clever reference to cult beliefs. So too, the niche in the wall of The Wisdom of the Ancients! suggests an archaeological dig that has us wondering of the significance of the Shrew Mouse in Egypt c.200BC. But it's The Middle Path that must be taken, that torturous way between the small golden door hung very high up on the wall and an imposing black double door set on the floor.
These thought provoking exhibits could serve as starting points for heated academic debate on the anthropological aspects of socio-religious attitudes reflected in the aesthetics of civilization. Or they may just unearth an politically incorrect sense of humour. Either way Horn's exhibits do interrupt the wall like windows, they not only frame what's out there but show us what's held within.