Art Review: Device and deviousness as art at the Ornamental Metal Museum

Stink bombs, spit ball shooters (shown) and squirters are among the nearly dozen intricately-crafted shenanigans by artist Nathan Dube on display at the National Ornamental Metal Museum.

You know you've wandered into a peculiar kind of exhibit when an object's materials are listed as silver and itching powder. Oh, and the title is "S.C.R.A.T.C.H."

The show in question -- "Tributaries: Nathan Dube" -- is the latest in an ongoing series at the National Ornamental Metal Museum that spotlights up-and-comers in the metal arts.

Stink bombs, spit ball shooters (shown) and squirters are among the nearly dozen intricately-crafted shenanigans by artist Nathan Dube on display at the National Ornamental Metal Museum.

Yet even in such company, Dube (pronounced "doobie" -- "like the band," says the artist), is a breed apart. Given the whimsical yet pointed subversion the Akron-based sculptor brings to his parade of prankish toys, the museum has found not only an emerging artist deserving of gallery space but one who challenges ways of thinking about the art, functionality, and objectification of sculpted metal -- Dube's creations are at once device and deviousness.

"These are all certainly functional objects but taken to a different place, and maybe one that you'd hope would never actually use it, at least not on you," says museum executive director Carissa Hussong, "It's very playful, it's well-constructed, but it is also pushing beyond what we typically show."

Stink bombs, spit ball shooters and squirters are among the nearly dozen intricately-crafted shenanigans on display, most bearing self-explanatory acronyms that mask jargon worthy of an industrial manual, such as the aforementioned S.C.R.A.T.C.H. (Skin Crawling, Rash Activating Tool for Covert Harassment), S.N.E.E.Z.E. (Stimulating Nose to Encourage Extra Zippy Explosion), S.Q.U.I.R.T. (Staining Quickly Until Irritating Response Transpires), and S.T.I.N.K. (Stench Triggering Instant Nasal Knockout).

But where the jokes end, conversation begins, and Dube gives the viewer a lot to contemplate. His artist's statement mentions a fascination with how the senses can trigger memories -- and thoughts of being hit with a spit wad might have that effect on some of us -- but he also explores the idea of mid-life crisis "toys" that aim to buy back youth and/or provide emblematic status and power. An example is the piece titled "Cap Shooters for a CEO", replete with illustrated directions that show a rather corpulent executive locked and loaded for an Old West shootout.

Even more compelling is how Dube's work suggests that children with a penchant for monkeyshines later become the corporate bullies of Wall Street, making games of ambition and greed.

Says Dube, "I really enjoy that back-and-forth of watching kids play, and also seeing some adults play in the corporate world, and how they relate to one another."

In sculpting his pieces, which can take several months to finish, Dube uses fine materials such as silver, rosewood and mother of pearl. The results are often beautiful to behold, totemic items that not only represent desire and upper-crust collectibility but activate similar feelings in the viewer. You can't help but want to own these playthings yourself, which is perhaps part of the point.

So too is the premise that all of his instruments work the way they are intended, something to which his wife can testify.

"It's not just this illusion I'm putting on as an artist," he says. "They function as actual products. My wife sits across from me in the studio and she often bears the brunt of some of those experiments."

He then pauses, careful not to become too much the prankster himself. "Ones that aren't too painful," he adds.

"Tributaries: Nathan Dube"

On display at the National Ornamental Metal Museum, 374 Metal Museum Dr., through July 17. For more information, call 774-6380 or go to metalmuseum.org.

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