Vague monuments

Artist Benjamin Fehl’s most recent display of his construction project was on view to a group of viewers last week in the Visual Arts building on Penn State’s main campus. Reassessing Fehl’s construction project, I am left with the same questions and concerns as my previous engagement with the work.
I entered the meeting room and sat at the large table followed by enough people to fill all the empty chairs. On the table, sat a crude model of a fractured structure made out of wood, plaster and cement which roughly stood two and a half feet tall, the model was surrounded by copies of a photographic image that were arranged in cascading piles, of a house under construction. Not knowing exactly how to process the visual information before us, the group began to ask questions, which led us all further into a quickly stiffening swarm of vague ideas and malnourished phrases. Without clarity on the conceptual and logistical logic of the project, the model and photographs fell short in relating the ideas that Ben attempts to describe when discussing the work.
My confusion comes from several disjunctions. First, the model did not project the final structure; the only connecting point between the two was the fact that the materials used to create the model would also be used to erect the final structure. Secondly, the photographic images on the table gave a view of a standing structure that (after hearing a bit more of it’s history) still did not enlighten me on the project anymore than the model did. Finally, after hearing his ideas and responses to our questions, I found that Ben’s lack of conceptual clarity smudged the lens we were transposing the final piece through. A more considered presentation could approach his ideas more clearly and relate a better understanding of the process Ben is undertaking.