BOTH within and without, the video installation Wilderness by Mary Lucier at the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, examines the notion of the past coming up against the present. Ms. Lucier was canny in choosing the American wilderness as her subject, because every viewer innately feels he has a share in this bounty. But plumbing the wilderness these days is like opening a Pandora's box. Many uncontrollable conditions beset this video epic.
The exterior presentation of wilderness is seven monitors atop seven pedestals that simulate classical columns, classical bases, marble tree stumps and an urn. Seven units are arrayed in a wide V, and this formation might refer to the ubiquitous valleys or notched landscape formations that are frequent in the works of the Hudson River School artists who inspired this video piece, including Thomas Cole, Frederic Church, George Inness and John Kensett. The V is also a sign of perspective.
