Hide/Gloryhole
The video you are currently viewing captures one of four compelling performances within the confines of a mixed media installation by artist Joshua Brennan. This event, titled "Everyone has something to hide or All we need now is another gloryhole," was a pivotal component of TIMELAPSE, a time-based media exhibition held at Indiana University’s SoFA Gallery (now the Grunwald Gallery) in October 2007.
The installation manifested in two states: a "static" form without performance and a "dynamic" form in full performance mode. Crafted from a blend of found objects and the artist’s distinct output, this immersive environment served as a versatile stage for a series of hour-long performances held weekly throughout the exhibition.
As each performance unfolded, the artist's spontaneous actions dynamically altered the installation's visual landscape and integrity, resulting in an evolving, deliberately unkempt aesthetic. Time for each performance was marked by an archaic egg timer, adding an element of unpredictability. Actions were unscripted, crafted in the moment, with the artist responding intuitively to the energy of participants. The performances began with minimal fanfare as the artist activated electrical switches, including an Orange amp painted pink and a vintage Hammonds drum machine, and removed his footwear before entering the conceptual "brain" of the environment.
The performance space seamlessly transitioned back into a sculptural installation as the artist withdrew from the "brain," propping up a hinged painting to reveal its underside and performance residue—an experience requiring viewers to kneel for a closer look.
The "brain" itself was a table positioned at the center of a large decorative rug, modified with multiple gloryholes that allowed for peeking in and out. Some gloryholes featured extendible rods, resembling those used for painting. The tabletop incorporated a larger hole providing access to a drum machine, amp, and overhead projector located above. Underneath the table, another overhead projector and art-related supplies resided in a small space, with walls covered in wallpaper made from phone advertisements extracted from adult magazines.
Paintings concealed the underside of the table and the artist within, two of which were hinged to the tabletop, adapting to the artist's contortions. These hinged works included a canvas portraying column decorations from Paris's catacombs and another with the word "REAR" on an old classroom Formica desktop. Additional attached objects-cum-paintings featured a framed Brancusi poster transformed with expressionistic abstraction using red duct tape and a framed Monet landscape print embellished with a reclining nude and an additional gloryhole.
Adjacent to the table, a large abstract painting leaned against it, causing fabric distortion around the drum machine and amplifier. Ochre enamel emphasized the stretchers of specific paintings, drawing attention to a gloryhole drilled into its pronounced structure. The backside of this painting housed extra work, including an unframed paper piece and an incision allowing cords to pass through.
Facing this painting on the opposite wall was another mixed media-based abstract painting on a found mattress. These facing paintings supported a four-foot square plywood sheet painted olive, with a large mirror attached underneath reflecting the underlying television and paintings. On top, against the wall, additional works included a humorous drawing on found paper housed in a frame with broken glass, and a blue-green color-field painting on Formica with another drawing in red paint marker on Plexiglas leaned against it. At the base of these facing paintings was an old black and white television propped up at an angle by a small painting of pink abstract letterforms and a collage on a green ground. The television played a silent film with subtitles featuring excerpts from the artist’s notes and sketches. This roughly thirty-minute film showcased a variety of scenes involving a mixture of unique and appropriated footage, utilizing the artist's expansive materials archive.