Stan Shellabarger at Western Exhibitions

Art in America, May, 2005 by Susan Snodgrass

Start Shellabarger's performances and conceptual objects center on the body, addressing issues of temporality. His quasi-ritualistic actions test the limits of his own body and attention span in ways that prompt the viewer in turn to question notions of self. These performances are imbued with humor and irony, as well as an earnest belief in the individual's ability to endure tedium and repetition. When he turns to making objects, Shellabarger works in a range of mediums, displaying an often obsessive attention to detail, which he turns to thought-provoking ends.

This first solo show for the Chicago-based artist included, in addition to a performance, drawings, photographs and artist's books, many of which are remnants or documentation of other performances. For instance, two interrelated sets of photographs document walking performances carried out in 2003 during the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The artist is shown from different perspectives and at various times of day, walking in a circular pattern (first clockwise, then counterclockwise), from sunrise to sunset. Similarly, an untitled series of 26 charcoal drawings made during a separate performance records the number of times the artist exhaled over a 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. period. Each breath is marked by a single line; the lines are set in groups of five upon sheets of paper arranged in a grid on the wall. Here, drawing is a form of calibration within the time limits that frame the piece.

Shellabarger presents various indices of the self in several artist's books that record his consumption of foods. His Butter Books, for example, consist of used wrappers from sticks of butter consumed over a three-year period (2001-2003), while in the ongoing Lawrence's Fisheries: Your Number (2004-), receipts from a local fish stand where Shellabarger regularly orders the same meal are collected in a metal binder. In other works, the artist preserves body residue: strands of his hair and nail clippings are placed in small envelopes, dated, then meticulously catalogued in books and binders.

Shellabarger's actions, such as Untitled (Dragging), 2004, performed each Saturday during the exhibition's run, also explore physical endurance. The artist outfitted four of the gallery's interior walls with drywall and foam insulation. Wearing gloves to which sandpaper was affixed, he paced back and forth, dragging his hands along the wall surfaces so as to carve a deep, horizontal groove. The subtitle alludes to the issues of time and toil so central to all of Shellabarger's works, in which the body is both muse and medium.