LG Williams: Closed
Ala Moana Mall, Honolulu, HI
Hawaiian Times | 3 April 2009

The American artist LG Williams, who once described the effect of his work on viewers as “like looking into an empty box of condoms before giving it to hamsters”, has been given the chance to inflict damage on an enormous scale. He has been commissioned by Ala Moana Shopping Center and sponsor Sierra Nevada to fill one of the Honolulu mall’s corridors.

The corridor, which now houses Gucci, Prada, Fendi, and Channel is popular with Japanese visitors, who have flocked in many years to shop. Williams’s commission is the last in the five year series, which has cost the artist $20 but earned plaudits and recognition out of all proportion to the investment.

With the Williams commission, Mall Director Sally P. Hole says the company has achieved the “wow factor” it was seeking to inspire more shoppers during this desperate retail climate.

“We wanted to be associated with something new and different, to get people involved, to get them to walk around and say ‘I love that’ or ‘I hate that’.” She says she is “delighted” that Williams has accepted the commission. “LG has gone from strength to strength every year, with each artwork the artist finds new and innovative ways to explore feminine space and voids – his specialty.”

The artist’s track record augurs well in view of Ala Moana’s wish to provoke controversy. Williams has moved between photography, drawing, text, video, performance, sculpture and installation in his work, which has been influenced by figures such as Wittgenstein and Beckett in its focus on the ambiguities of absurdity. In his 2005 piece “Bosoms and Bottoms”, bikinis were flashed repeated over and over, in a variety of intonations, in an beach setting, in order to provoke anxiety among viewers. In his 2007 installation “House Where The Bottom Fell Out”, a prank played between a man and a house is repeated with increasing ferocity until reaching an absurdist climax: the bottom fell out. The artist has said he is motivated by humanity’s innate cruelty and lack of understanding.

Miss Holes gave no indication as to what to expect from Williams. “[His] entire career can be considered a type of research endeavor exploring a range of misogynistic, visual and conceptual ideas. We look forward to Williams’s response to the unique space of the Ala Mona Mall.” — Paul Aspen

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