THE STRENGTH TO BE KIND

Rollins Museum of Art’s ‘One Act of Kindness’ explores the borderlands where cultural connection can happen

BY GINGER WOLFE-SUAREZ

The exhibition One Act of Kindness: A World of Difference at Rollins Museum of Art highlights four pieces by four artists: Guillermo Galindo, Patrick Martinez, Monte Olinger and Joe Wardwell. Together the works explore a range of material and experimental approaches while also engaging concepts of empathy, legibility and immigration.

Artist/composer Galindo’s sculpture is described as an “assemblage instrument.” The materials include a shoe, some gravel, a wooden handle, an amplifier and a wooden tray displayed within a vitrine. Galindo creates his assemblages from items discarded or left behind by immigrants on the dangerous trip across the United States border. The title of the work, “Zapatófono,” com- bines the Spanish word for “shoe” with “gramophone.” There is a suggestion that the work could share the stories — or play the songs — of those who once used or wore the items while risking their own lives to cross into the United States. “Zapatófono” leads the viewer to wonder about the person who wore that shoe — what they encountered, if they are still living — and consider a situation not their own, as it relates to displacement, citizenship and perhaps even liberation. Many artists have created work that addresses the border between the United States and Mexico in recent years, and we might suggest following up this exhibition by exploring the paintings and performances of Ana Teresa Fernandez and public sculpture by Marco Ramirez.

Gallindo’s work speaks not only to the Mexican-American border but the various borders we see and perceive every day, even in Florida. Delineations of space have been mapped out very differently by tribes of indigenous Americans, and Florida was given borders by other countries, like Spain, as well. Discussions about our country’s borders often center around confronting a binary as it relates to opposition; however, borders and

Joe Wardwell (American, b. 1972)

“Out of Kindness I Suppose,” 2019-21

Acrylic on canvas, 38 x 60 inches

The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art at Rollins College, Gift of Barbara ‘68 and Theodore ‘68 Alfond. 2021.1.36 © Joe Wardwell boundaries could also function as spaces for potential connection. It is intriguing to think of Florida in this way, as a space for cultural connection that can happen in unlikely ways.

In contrast, Martinez’s neon-green text outlined by a pink neon frame, “Then They Came For Me,” expresses the fear this journey may entail. His work uses materials typically fabricated for street signs and advertisements to share language that expresses fear, trauma and cultural turmoil. The title is borrowed from a text attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller, who spoke out against those complicit with the Nazis: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. “Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.” The text is a chilling, if not prescient, warning.

Finally, there are two paintings in the exhibition. One is a work by Wardwell that depicts a fragmented and shattered field emblazoned with the phrase “Out of Kindness I Suppose.” The other is a compelling painting by Olinger titled “St. John’s Sunset,” a composition bisected by a horizon, a border of sorts.

ONE ACT OF KINDNESS: A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE through May 14

Rollins Museum of Art

1000 Holt Ave., Winter Park rollins.edu/rma free arts@orlandoweekly.com

Contemplating the textual and formal relationships between the pieces in One Act of Kindness, one can’t help but think about these works within the current social and political climate. Creativity as an action can be a potent form of protest — activists, artists, environmental conservationists, teachers, librarians, writers and even museum curators navigate this every day, especially in Central Florida under the shadow of the current state administration.

BY SETH KUBERSKY

One glorious Hanukkah nearly 40 years ago, alongside the usual assortment of socks and chocolate coins, I received the holy grail of mid-1980s gifts: a Nintendo Entertainment System, complete with Super Mario Bros. As a veteran of failed systems from the Intellivison to the TI-99/4A, the NES wasn’t my first video game console, but it was the first to overcome its 8-bit limitations with appealing characters and utterly addictive gameplay, as the painfully callused “Nintendo thumb” I swiftly developed during that winter break demonstrated.

I’ve been chasing that formative feeling in electronic entertainment ever since, and a few of Nintendo’s subsequent products have inspired similarly self-destructive obsession over the decades: going blind playing Tetris on my original GameBoy’s grey-green screen, or bruising knuckles and breaking knickknacks while waggling my Wii remote. But no video game has ever induced me to awaken at dawn and wait for hours in the freezing cold in exchange for mere minutes of gameplay, and then eagerly do it all again the next day … until I entered the larger-than-life arcade that is Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Super Nintendo World.

Ever since the world’s first Nintendo-based theme park land opened at Universal Studios Japan during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, American theme park and video game fans have been frothing to experience the acclaimed expansion firsthand. And although the ongoing construction of a Super Nintendo World at Universal Orlando’s upcoming Epic Universe park was the industry’s “worst kept secret” until officially confirmed by Mark Woodbury (chairman of the newly renamed Universal Destinations & Experiences) at last month’s long-anticipated grand opening of California’s Mushroom Kingdom, I just couldn’t wait until 2025 to punch some bricks. So, thanks to the publishers of my Unofficial Guide travel books, I hopped a cheap-yetcomfortable direct flight to the other Orange County aboard the brand-new Breeze Airways, bought a $40 Luigi-branded Power Up band, and headed through the iconic green warp pipe saying, “Let’s a-go!”

After emerging from the foyer of Princess Peach’s castle into the main courtyard of Super Nintendo World, my first in-person glimpse of the land made me giggle with delight. Like Universal’s Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter and Disney’s Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge before it, SNW largely isolates guests from the outside world, immersing them in the environment of a classic Mario game. But it outdoes those antecedents through overwhelming kinetics. While Hogwarts Castle and the Millennium Falcon are scenic but static, every sightline surrounding Mount Beanpole is overstuffed with marching Koopas, waddling Goombas and snapping Piranha Plants.

Nintendo aficionados could easily spend hours simply wandering around the area identifying easter eggs, but most visitors will instead dash for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, the land’s only ride. This next-generation interactive dark ride combines a traditional tracked vehicle and physical sets with advanced augmented reality visors, which project 3D “holograms” of digital friends and foes without blocking out the real world. Guests turn the steering wheels of their four-seat cars in sync with floating arrows and aim shells at rivals by turning their heads; I found pursuing the 100 coins needed to defeat Team Bowser much more engaging than any of Disney’s shooting rides.

Although it has been subject to online complaints about its slowness and accessibility issues, I felt Mario Kart truly captured the franchise’s spirit without excluding thrill-averse families, and it features some of the more accommodating seats in Universal’s admittedly size-unfriendly repertoire. One issue that can’t be dismissed (at least in the short term) is the ride’s long waits and frequent downtimes, especially during the upcharge early entry hour. It’s fortunate for the guests spending hours in line that Mario Kart’s elaborate queue through King Bowser’s castle is full of clever details, but the first ride-through is so overstimulating that you’ll want multiple laps to improve your score. (Hot tip: Seeking out the single-rider entrance skips you past the queue and preshow entertainment, and allowed me to ride almost a dozen times over two days.) Even if you were to visit Super Nintendo World and never get to ride Mario Kart, it could still be worth your while as long as you purchased that aforementioned Power-Up band, which is basically a battery-free Amiibo on a slap bracelet. It pairs with Universal’s smartphone app, and it’s required for tracking scores in both Mario Kart and the many other interactive activities around the land. Games range from simply punching the soft foam undersides of the land’s signature blocks or searching through binoculars for hidden characters, to physical challenges involving slapping alarm clocks, spinning cranks and slapping screens. Only Power-Up purchasers who collect enough virtual keys by completing challenges are allowed inside Bowser Jr.’s lair for a motion-tracking “boss battle” that’s the most fun aerobic workout I’ve had in ages. skubersky@orlandoweekly.com

The biggest problem with Super Nintendo World is that there’s just not enough of it. Squeezed into the back corner of the lower lot, it creates such a claustrophobic bottleneck that virtual return times are being used to manage the mobs. That’s a problem Orlando’s version will hopefully solve, with more space (based on Japan’s larger footprint), more rides (a family-friendly Yoshi ride and a Donkey Kong coaster) and more eateries (Hollywood’s lone Toadstool Cafe is adorbs but underbuilt).

Epic Universe will also, I hope, avoid some cosmetic flaws in California (like obvious seams in the backdrops and exposed animatronic supports) that weren’t seen in Japan. Until it opens in Orlando, though, I’ve still got a couple of years to improve on my measly 6,459 Coins.