Module 11 - Art Visit #2

Took another visit to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, courtesy of the Student Pass, this time to view the different Art Exhibits from a more curators perspective.  I focused on the one I was allowed to take pictures of this time around in the Kelly Richardson - Legion exhibit.  Kelly Richardson uses high resolution video and different combinations of hi-def sound to transform a room into a unique moving scene.  I also took some time to look at the section they have dedicated to Greek Culture where you can see a number of small sculptures and pottery as well as some silk work.  There was also a section that housed contemporary photography which I had not seen so what better chance right.  Lastly a trip would not be complete if I had not walked the perimeter and saw all of the outdoor pieces both on the landscape as well as the building itself.

Kelly Richardson - Legion
There are a number of pieces on display here and I almost missed the first 3 because they seemed almost not attached because they were before the actual main opening in the exhibit.  The main theme here was the use of high definition video and sound to depict a real yet unreal environment.  The images are so natural and the sounds so vivid that everything seems normal then, pop, a tree vanishes or a forest animal pops up glowing in a green smoke.  The main pieces had their own rooms and only a couple actually shared a room and these had motion activated sensors that played directional sound from above.  In my opinion the main pieces were the three large videos in the back.  All done with 3 projectors and only one spanned a straight wall.  The other 2 were made to wrap around the walls on three connected screens.  All the rooms had soft black wall panels, likely to deal with sound quality and to help keep the room dark.  The only lit up section was with regard to the piece details and the screens.  Walls were mostly white but all the lights were out and little light caught the walls.  All the pieces only had a single section in which to sit made up of leather clad cubes that where also black and usually put you in an ideal vantage point.  All the rooms were completely clear of any other object.  Open floor plan allowed you to view the piece from a few angles and even get close enough to totally engulf you in the video completely.  Since the layout of the rooms limits the movement and the shear size of the pieces take up the majority of every room you move from section to section to see the pieces.  The big three are in the back and the others are much smaller rooms that connect 2 or 3 pieces together.  The flow is by no means hindering and each section has its own similar style.  There were only a few pieces that were different in the sense of how the image and sound connected.  The piece There's a Lot There, 2001 has this buzzing swarm of mosquitoes and a completely distorted image that has this familiarity that ties into the outdoors.  Another has a shaky image of the moon and what sounds like popping and crackling of a fire perhaps.  The others all seem to have a super clear backdrop and scene with one or two odd features.  Each piece has a descriptive plaque on the wall in the room where it is displayed and is even lit up from a ceiling spot light carefully directed with the help of some black duck tape.  Here is a few shots of the pieces and some videos of the exhibit.

There's a Lot There

Overhead directional sound

Here are a couple of the main pieces and the equipment used to display them.

Mariner 9

1/3 projectors for Mariner 9, note the tape to control the image placement on the screen

Another projector for Mariner 9, note the tape and black card to again control image placement.

Seating and Black wall pad behind in The Erudition

The 3 screens of the Leviathan

Three pieces I really liked where The Erudition, Exile of the Shaddered Star and Twilight Avenger.  I thought the pieces were all intriguing to look at and the atmosphere with the sound was peaceful.

The scene in The Erudition was beautiful with an interesting disconnect on the left and middle screen.  What seems like a continuous 3 panel scene has a break in the lower right of the left screen and the lower left of the center screen.  We see a hill on the left that just does not continue on the center screen.  What is striking is that was not even noticed by me until I reviewed the video at home.  The outlier here is the trees.  They glow with a soft blue hue and pop in and out of existence.  This lead me to think that maybe the scenes are not connected but the center and right screen have what seems like a common sun or light off in the distance.  Then I think the sudden popping and movement of the trees symbolize the death and rebirth of nature in one area to another.  The science in me could not help but think of the possibility of the three panels being representative of the potential of multiple dimensions and the glinting in and out of one to another.  At the very least the moving trees leave you searching the scene every time you hear that pop to see which tree moved and where.  The you move your eyes back to the scenery.  The piece is well done and keeps you actively trying to see the whole piece while surprising you with a magical tree here and there.

Installation view of The Erudition, 2010

Exile of the Shaddered Star was yet another beautiful scene of a county scape that had all the peace and serenity you could ask for.  The sounds of the what seem to be the early moring just before the sun rises but the scene seems to tell a different story.  The sun appear to be out already but only to the left, possibly setting, and yet on the right and along the top it almost seems to hint at a storm.  The landscape is lit up yet has that shadowed feel like the sun has gone down and not up.  What is more striking is the fireballs falling from the sky.  If you were to walk into the exhibit with your eyes closed you would never expect the falling of flaming shrapnel but a peaceful scene with birds chirping.  It feels like the co-mingling of peace and destruction.  They both can exist in the same space and you can chose to focus on one or the other.  The sound almost forces the peaceful side but you are not able to overlook the falling flames.  This movement does a great job at forcing the viewer to look at both the foreground and the background.  It is almost like watching two things at once.  You can't help but notice the falling pieces of burning yet the scene is inviting and the sounds constantly playing wishes to take you to that serenity. 

Exiles of the Shattered Star, 2006

Then was have the Twilight Avenger.  The depth the video camera captures along with the realness of the scene again puts us in this peaceful nature setting yet the sound here leaves us believing that it is night time and we are alone in the woods.  There is one special thing about these woods however, the stag that is shown at the start of the clip.  The significance here is really that our only visible living creature happens to be glowing green.  The atmosphere is not completely inviting and yet there is no visible threat.  The only being with us is peaceful and nonthreatening yet he has this ominous glow that almost makes him fell not of this world.  We are forced to watch him because of this strange addition of glowing and yet when he walks away and off the screen the only thought that comes to mind is, Where did he go, is he coming back?  I see this as another touch on peace and serenity in an otherwise uninviting situation.  Not many would care to be in the woods alone and in the dark.  A welcome peaceful creature, glowing or not, is still a sign of hope that something this good can live in this place.  Our stags movement again takes us around this image and when he leaves we look at the rest of our scene to see if anything else might be coming; yet we always look back to where our stag left us to see if he might come back.

Twilight Avenger, 2008

I took a lot of photos this go around and grouped them up nicely in Photobucket, here are a few of the albums for you to take a look at:

A Celebration of Greek Culture

Outdoor Pieces and Sculptures

Looking Out And Looking In

Hope you have enjoyed the brief tour and my take on the Kelly Richardson Exhibit.  A few more sections left in this semester and I have experienced more than expected already.  I hope you have gained some information and some incite as you have gone through these posts as well.  Till next time.