Last year I had the distinct pleasure and was deeply honored to be invited by Richard Chartier to again provide a visual experience for one of his incredible sound art works. It is my pleasure to share the results of this collaboration with you (above) and the link in the caption provides you even more listening goodies and a review from Cyclic Defrost. Enjoy.
Short excerpt of headspace(s) which screens as part of an exhibition featuring seven video artists, titled Going Dark, at the Brentwood Arts Exchange in Brentwood, Maryland. This exhibition, though closed to the public due to Covid-19 precautions, runs online and virtually from July 23rd to August 27th, 2020.
A viewing schedule is available by email (see below), and various works will be highlighted across multiple online platforms throughout the duration of the exhibit. A closing Facebook watch party will feature all videos streamed in their entirety and additional comments from the artists.
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The full version of headspace(s) will be posted here later in August after it debuts during the online exhibition.
I am very excited to share news of Room40‘s upcoming release of Pinkcourtesyphone’s exquisite Leaving Everything to Be Desired on September 25, 2020.
I am also proud to have contributed a video compliment to the beautiful another interior on this richly enveloping album, recorded and produced by Richard Chartier.
Check out this review in Fact magazine and enjoy a full-length screening online while there.
Brentwood Arts Exchange is proud to announce Going Dark, a group video exhibition opening in the Main Gallery on Wednesday, July 23 accompanied by a vibrant virtual component, streaming to your homes through our digital platforms.
Viewing schedule to be released by email, with various works highlighted across online platforms throughout the duration of the exhibit. Closing reception will feature a Facebook watch party with all videos streamed in their entirety.
Sign up for BAE’s newsletter to be kept up-to-date! bit.ly/BAEnewsletter.
As part of Going Dark, I will be premiering headspace(s), a 6 minute, 20 second audio/video composition pondering the many places our minds wander and how those “spaces” fluctuate and change through time .
What started about a year ago as an artistic exploration of the immune systems attack on nerve cells in multiple sclerosis (MS), has emerged as a resonant investigation of our current global crisis—COVID-19. With MS, it is believed that the damage done to the nervous system that leads to disability is done by over-active immune cells attacking and damaging the myelin sheath around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. As it turns out, this is similar to the aggressive immune response seen with COVID-19. In this pandemic, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infiltrates cells along the respiratory tract and then uses them to replicate. In response, the patient’s immune system kicks into overdrive and launches a “scorched earth” assault to overcome the infection. Again, as in MS, this immune system response itself can cause serious damage. Generally, however, and unlike MS, this counter-insurgency effort by the immune system in fighting the coronavirus, can lead to very serious, sometimes deadly, results very quickly.
Also, while there are striking similarities, there are significant differences. MS is not known to be caused by a specific virus. Why the immune system attacks nerve cells in MS is not really known. This is very different from the current pandemic in that we know the enemy and understand why our immune system wants to eradicate it, even when doing so causes additional damage and harm.
So this body of work, even though born of curiosity and learning related to the cause and progression of MS, strikes me as relevant and poignant as we face this latest viral outbreak.
The quote below is from this article which has some great details on the action involved in the COVID-19 infection. And the video clip above is a portion of a video from a series of projects I’ve been working with off and on since 2019. I’ve recently revisited the projects to continue the work.
“SARS-CoV-2 grows in type II lung cells, which secrete a soap-like substance that helps air slip deep into the lungs, and in cells lining the throat. As with SARS, most of the damage in COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, is caused by the immune system carrying out a scorched earth defense to stop the virus from spreading.
Millions of cells from the immune system invade the infected lung tissue and cause massive amounts of damage in the process of cleaning out the virus and any infected cells.”
This composition excerpt (< 3 minutes) is from a ~ 22 minute composition exploring a visual interpretation of the broad concept of personal space.
As I learn about the anatomy and the biochemical “magic” that occurs inside and among the nerve cells of our brains, along the spinal chord, and throughout the body, I create artwork that resonates with what I learn. Its never meant as a diagram or a scientific illustration per se but rather as an homage to the known and the unknown neurochemistry that is at play in our sentience.
This clip shows about a minute of a rotating slideshow which includes images form my 2D portfolio. All images shown in various configurations on the screen are randomly organized purely for display and review purposes. Its one way to help visitors understand the style, variety, cohesion, and scale of works available for display and for collecting. This is only a small subset of the many images I’ve produced as 2D extractions from time-based video art projects. The bulk of the images shown in this clip are from an ongoing artistic exploration of the wonders of the neuron. These are not intended as strict illustrations but rather a visual appreciation and exploration of what we know and what we don’t know (yet) about how these amazing cells function, both internally and as part of a vast network of similar cells, to form our sentience and our identity.
Please reach out to me if you have questions or leave any questions or comments here on the blog.
Exhibited at MAP (Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD). Digital still (from video) print, 7-color on aluminum/dibond. 18″ x 32″
http://www.mdartplace.org/exhibitions
This artwork is produced as an edition of one (1/1). It is a digital 7-color print on an aluminum base, with a 0.12” Dibond backing. This image will not be reproduced in any form. It is derived from a series of video artworks exploring human neurobiology. Each neuron in our body (there are over 80 billion) consists primarily of a cell body (or soma), a nucleus, an axon (for outgoing signals) and one or more dendrites (for incoming signals). Neurochemical activity in the soma activates an electrochemical process whereby an electrical pulse (or action potential) travels the axon from the soma to the axon terminal (and synapse). When the potential reaches the synapse (near instantaneously) the electrochemical signal is translated, without contact, through neurotransmitter chemicals to the dendritic receptors of other neurons, cells, or tissues of the body. This incoming signal may be similarly transmitted from the receptors along dendritic channels to the soma of other neurons for further processing. This process, repeated at near lightning speeds, continuously, and system-wide, forms the neurologic wonder of our sentience—all that we think, feel, dream, see, hear, and experience.
The series from which this image is derived is not intended as an illustration of a neuron (though there are structural similarities), but as the product of my curiosity and wonder as I learn how our neurobiology forms awareness, consciousness, and subconsciousness. The bio-architecture of our neurons and the manner in which they function (or, in the case of disease or injury, malfunction), is of great interest to me and forms the inspiration for my 2D and time-based work.
2D work selected to be part of the
Second Tri-Annual Maryland State Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Show open Thursday, September 19th – Sunday, November 10th
Reception: Thursday, September 19th 6-9pm
The Studio Floor 