Lot 4: Trashed Mailbox

CADY NOLAND (b. 1956)
Trashed Mailbox
chrome-plated metal, aluminum, rubber, plastic, glass mirrors, printed paper, printed fabric
20 x 24 x 16 in. (51 x 61 x 41 cm.)
Executed in 1989.

Lausanne, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Private View 1980-2000: Collection Pierre Huber, June-September 2005, pp. 86-87 (illustrated).

Cady Noland's sculptural work seems to mine the cultural detritus of the 1970s, particularly its politcal scandals and widespread disillusionment following the proceeding decade, to imply that issues raised during that era are still unresolved to this day. Her use of materials is key--the empty beer can, the mailbox, the chain-length fence--these objects provide a foil against Minimalism's cool aesthetic by their dislocated, discarded nature. Noland gravitates toward objects that have multiple meanings. In My Amusement (1993-94), Noland suspended a tire, attached to a hulking metal chain and steel armature, from the gallery space, to simultaneously cannote childhood reverie but also a hangman's noose. But unlike her Pop precedents, Noland's "readymade" objects seem to point more to the people who used and consumed them, rather than to the formal qualities of the thing itself.

In Trashed Mailbox (1989), Noland assembles an empty 40 oz. bottle of Budweiser, a metal mailbox, an empty box of car filters and an American flag, in such an incongruous, haphazard way as to provoke images of excess waste and wanton excess. Noland's objects, inherently American by nature, point to the seedy underbelly of American culture. Gathered together, these seemingly innocuous, utilitarian objects take on sinister aspects; part of a flag pole becomes a potential weapon, a piece of metal fencing an agressive container, a belt an S&M device. Noland's brilliance lies in her adept ability to assemble everyday objects as stand-ins for larger social issues, such as racism, police brutality and the dark side of the American dream.