The Precision and Process of FLOW

Artist Odili Odita steps back from “FLOW,” his wall-painting installation currently in progress in the Contemporary Arts Center’s lobby. In just over a week it has progressed dramatically. From white walls broken into areas and angles with wide swaths of painter’s tape, his vision is starting to emerge in a palette presently dominated by deep red and golden yellow. A neat row of numbered and coded paint cans accentuates the precision of Odita’s planning.

The mechanical clamor of the scissor lifts used to reach the heights of the lobby walls echoes around the enormous space, a noisy constant punctuating the conversations taking place on and around them. The installation crew on lifts, ladders and scaffolding roll on color, removes tape, working at remarkable speed. CAC staff and guests pause to watch before going about their business. Next to Odita, a boom box plays the Pixies’ album Surfer Rosa. Wearing a hooded burgundy sweatshirt smeared with paint, the artist studies the wall in front of him.

Before the clean lines and sharp edges are complete for the Nov. 9 opening, the installation process itself is the focal point at the CAC. According to CAC Public Relations Director Stacey Czar, “We’re looking at the process as such an important part of contemporary art that we want to highlight it as much as we highlight the work itself when it’s completed.”

After lengthy planning and set up, “FLOW” is progressing rapidly, a process that Odita describes as a “funnel effect.”

Odita is an associate professor of painting at Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia. He has been returning to Cincinnati each weekend for the past month to work on the installation. With the help of his assistant Emily Erb and an installation crew of 10 artists, the fractured forms of “FLOW” begin to coalesce.

A group of undergraduate and graduate students from Kent State University attended Odita’s public lecture on Oct. 27. One student noted the many changes that had taken place in the short time span of their visit and said, “I’m kind of disappointed they’re going to paint over it in a year.” Emir Bukva, a first-year graphic design graduate student, considered the process: “It’s interesting seeing it just like it is right now, sort of like the process of making the piece is art itself. The blue tape, people working and even the music — there is an experience as worthy of seeing as it would be when it’s done.”

Bukva went on to reflect on “FLOW” in the context of Zaha Hadid’s architecture.

“The building is just so imposing,” he said. “I guess they both complement each other, his piece and the architecture, but at the same time they also compete for your attention.”

Odita responded to the space in his planning process, taking into account the ways in which spaces are used and the viewpoints from which they are seen. For example, the north wall that the viewer cannot see upon entering is best viewed from the stairs that pass behind it. The passageway beside the elevator, a narrow space that might have been overlooked with white walls, now demands attention. On one wall, large red triangles meet blue triangles extending from the opposite side. The facing wall repeats the pattern with pale pink and black. The strong diagonals of the triangles, large repeated shapes and bold contrasting color choices make this space a focal point, drawing the eye inward and inviting exploration. Odita said the idea of painting being “integrated into the structure” appeals to him, and the dialogue between “FLOW” and Hadid’s structure is already compelling.

As work continues on “FLOW,” the color schemes progress and reveal increasingly more of Odita’s overall vision. Visit the CAC’s Web site or stop by to watch this process unfold.

— Angela Kilduff