old Tech new Tech
September 9 – November 1, 2015
Curator: Maddy Rosenberg
At CENTRAL BOOKING, we have previously avoided technology exhibitions in order to concentrate on the pure sciences. But in the spirit of embracing all branches of thought and practices in the art and science realm, it seemed time to confront technology head on in various stages of its development. We see the use of technology to enhance materials and media in the hands of artists, a collaboration of the technical with the aesthetic. A true feast for the eyes, it contains much that is also interactive, from hand cranks to computer games. This is an exhibition that is not about technology but one in which technology is incorporated into the work seamlessly in a way that it becomes essential to the concept of the work.
The Book Art Museum of Lodz started as pamphleteers, coming out of the dark with three-dimensional lenticular prints, die-cuts and even the making of their own type to suit, running the gamut from old to new technologies. Alexandra Limpert begins with a hand crank and leads us to the land of sensors in her sculptures, as they react and interact. Alan Rosner finds metal for other purposes, inviting us to play with magnetism. Marianne R. Petit deals with the latest media as her work literally breathes through projection, yet is equally comfortable in the land of paper flaps and hand manipulation.
Aaron Beebe manages to collage into his finely drawn mapping a bit of technological illumination. Katherine Jackson‘s pieces have the delicacy of the sandblasted glass drawings illuminated with hundreds of color choices that LEDs offer, while Carol Salmanson draws with the light itself. Patricia Olynyk uses light to illuminate medicinal artifacts of an earlier age, as Joseph A.W. Quintela reduces light to an amorphous shape. We find Yael Brotman‘s work in niches and corners, a miniature world engineered to come upon. Sophia Sobers provides a delicate one we must be careful not to trample.
Deborah Doering and Glen Doering a team that together is DOEprojekts, take the very low technological medium of drawing and raise it to high technological interaction.
Trish Mackenzie stands alone as a scientist with artist collaborators, tracing art as it evolves from the artist’s brain. The electronic elements of Claire Watkins crawl along the wall with a gentle movement that we may at first miss in its delicacy. Though the geometry of Brett Wallace is fabricated by new technology it bears a vintage look, but climbs into a new light. With Benjamin Poynter, too, we see a comfort with more traditional media interpreted through the latest platform, a gaming mind with the lyricism of a ballet. Lorin Roser and Nina Kuo combine musical compositions with image realizations that only the computer can manifest. Catherine Clover is an artist of few words- and images; she evokes native birds through sound and asks us to listen.
All in all, the collaborations with scientists and engineers are ones that bring a dimension to the work that is beyond the technical but informed by it.
