Lane Hall and Lisa Moline use the phrase "observe the overlooked" to describe the unusual imagery of their art. Layering and juxtaposing the micro with the macro, the work of this Milwaukee-based artist duo pushes the viewer to re-evaluate both urban and natural environments. Macropolis consists of two discrete panels; Smallish, There Was a Shrugging portrays frogs and mollusks set against a backdrop of graphs and tables. The second panel, Nebulous, the Most Terrible, illustrates a gathering of monarch caterpillars and images of young insects in various types of representation–from realistic photographs to pixilated computer scans. Examining both individual life forms and context, the artists probe the changing division between "city" and "country." The mural hangs alongside the bustling thoroughfare of State Street, providing a visual attraction for the future site of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. In keeping with the artists' desire for an ongoing dialogue with passersby, the piece will be supplemented with additional elements from time to time. Hall and Moline will install two new panels in the same locations in Spring 2005.
Macropolis is generously supported by the Madison Cultural Arts District; the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the Madison Community Foundation and the Overture Foundation; a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin; The Art League of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art; the Exhibition Initiative Fund; and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s 20042005 Sustaining Benefactors.