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Issue date: 10/28/08 Section: Arts & Society

Media Credit: Photo Courtesy of http://bmoreart.blogspot.com Sculptures from the Franz West exhibit, To Build a House, You Start with the Roof, are pictured above. The artist's work will be on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art until January 2, 2009, and it features over a hundred sculptures, collages, and outdoor installations.

To Build a House, You Start with the Roof is Austrian artist Franz West's first American exhibit. The exhibit, on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art until January 2, 2009, features over a hundred of West's sculptures, collages, and outdoor installations created since the 1970s.

West's work begs to be confronted, touched, and analyzed. It is organized as a series of mini installations, some interactive. It is typical to see viewers maneuvering, trying on, and even sitting on West's work.

As I walk into the exhibit, I am awed by two super-sized, loopy sculptures whose vibrant colors are reflected through out the room. I am looking at The Ego and the Id, two twenty-five foot "sitting sculptures" which West constructed with the gallery in mind.

They capture the colors of Candy Landâ„¢ and the imagination of Dr. Seussâ„¢. On the museum grounds lies Dorit, which is a futuristic, bubblegum pink sculpture, Swimmer, and Violetta. All three of the bold sculptures are touchable; in fact, Swimmer and Violetta both have places for the viewer to sit, take pictures, and truly become a part of the art.

West is best known for his interactive pieces, allowing the viewer to step into his world of creativity and fantasy. He was inspired by the Actionist Movement, which originated in Vienna, Austria. The artists of the movement sought to create unconventional pieces and overcome the passiveness of the art world.

His earliest pieces, the Adaptives, are a series of pasty-white, portable sculptures designed to be handled by viewers in their own unique way. An encounter with an Adaptive is individualized by the personal gestures and traits of the participant holding them.

West acknowledges that the Adaptives are abstract and a little awkward to play with in public. He created Mirror in the Cabinet with Adaptives, a piece similar to an enclosed cabinet that provides viewers with a private space to interact with the sculptures. The private chamber is composed of walls lined with a local Baltimore newspaper and a large mirror. Here, viewers can do as they please and truly express themselves.

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