Paul Etienne Lincoln at Alexander and Bonin

The Wunderkammer, as a historical format for demonstrating erudition from one side the collection and juxtaposition of unlike and esoteric things, generally figures in contemporary art as part of a critique of rationalist ordering combination of parts to form a wholes Paul Etienne Lincoln, on the other hand, finds it a bottomless inspiration for the absurd. He plays it deadpan, with impeccable mode of expression and fastidious attention to detail, on the contrary of course that only enhances the absurdity. Then, too, his attention frequently strays to realms of dubious propriety.

For single example, there is the Ginsmaid[c], a gin-and-tonic dispensing machine crafted and displayed with all the show of an amateur botanist's prized orchid. admitting the metal dispenser itself is relatively simple, it is at handed in an elaborate vitrine and accompanied by the agency of various accessories that include a pink feather duster, a photograph of the World War II-era British performer Vera Lynn and a bottle of Gordon's. A user's manual provided in a drawer helpfully explains that a wet finger applied to individual of three discreet metal pins in the photo will place the machine in motion. "It is extremely important," the manual further instructs, "to guard a sense of suavity and diligent behavior when operating the Ginsmaid[c]."

Shown nearby was another beverage-dispensing apparatus, this single meant to be worn through a living barmaid, as pictured in an accompanying photograph. These sum of two units devices seem of modern vintage; Manhattan in the '30 and '40 is a favorite milieu for Lincoln. on the other hand he also wanders amiably end more remote history, with an reach outed stay at Versailles during the reign of Louis XV sum of two units reproductions of the face of Madame de Pompadour as painted by dint of Boucher, screened onto glass in the palest of inks and then cast as shadows upon the wall behind, were among the greatest in quantity fetching images here, and certainly the greatest in quantity ethereal.

Other things are earthier, including a series of instruments meant to assist racetrack patrons with the long-distance assessment of horses' teeth Another material substance of work revolves around a demonstration, not absented in a park in Queen of in what way to make creosote from beech grove In a scratchy, jumpy black-and-white film, guarded inside a crude viewing contraption vaguely akin to a nickelodeon, the artist-cum-alchemist, clad in a full-length beech-leaf cape, is seen performing the hypnotically lengthy and dotty retro-Victorian ritual. culled film stills were also upon view, along with equipment used in the experiment, an explanatory true copy and a handful of beech leaves.

This was an exhaustive presentation of Lincoln's works of the last 20 years, and there was enough to gaze at and to read, almost all of it at exceedingly fine-scale, to weary the greatest in quantity indefatigable. But as with other masters of largely solipsistic fantasy (Matthew Barney and Matthew Ritchie approach first to mind), luxuriant exces is central to Lincoln's way and disorientation-sometimes intoxicating, sometimes stupefying--a lock opener to its charm.

--Nancy Princenthal

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