In a seamless progression from last month’s opening of Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead, the latest group show opened at the MOCAD (a Knight Arts grantee) last weekend, and continues to approach art from the perspective of home (and vice-versa).  (IN)HABITATION, curated by Greg Tom, features work of Jason J. Ferguson, Matt Kenyon and Osman Khan, all of which explores relationships with and within the home.

“Dining Room” by Jason J. Ferguson (part of the “Domestic Carnival” project).

Overall, the show is highly kinetic, with selections from Ferguson’s “Domestic Carnival” flashing, a giant steel beam from Kahn’s “There Are Times I Lose Faith” intermittently making good on its implicit threat to crush the tilework beneath it, and an entire living room container in the work “Come Hell or High Water” slowly filling and draining thigh-high with water. Kenyon, too, presented work full of movement and energy, with a performance at the opening featuring “Cloud,” a machine that replicates the housing market crash through the generation of house-shaped bubble clouds which briefly lofted to the ceiling before crashing back down, and “Supermajor,” an optical illusion that has motor oil inexplicably drawing backward into a rack of cans.

“There Are Times I Lose Faith” by Osman Khan.

“Come Hell or High Water” by Osman Khan.

The “Cloud” machine, by Matt Kenyon.

The show is full of emotion, hitting home in a literal sense, raising for me questions of normalcy and safety within my surroundings, both at home and in the world of art. Home is where we let our guard down, but the MOCAD’s current offering keeps the viewers constantly on their toes. In conjunction with the exhibit backgrounding the Mike Kelley installation, the MOCAD’s current agenda seem to be all about bringing art into the sphere of the most personal sanctuary: home.

“Spore 2.0” by Matt Kenyon, a rubber tree plant from Home Depot that is electronically watered according to the performance of Home Depot’s stock.

“Supermajor” by Matt Kenyon. Your guess is as good as mine.

The show will run through July 28th and is not to be missed.

MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-832-6622; www.mocadetroit.org