ELECTRIC LAB
September 20- November 17, 2007
Opening Thursday September 20, 7-10pm
Thursday Evening at Exit Art, October 11, 18, 25 and November 1.
A tour of Electric Lab is available on our podcast page .
Electricity is one of life’s most fundamental forces; it courses through our bodies and powers our computers. Today, the shortage and high cost of electricity is a pressing issue. The rethinking of energy production and consumption is imperative as we face depleted natural resources, environmental damage, and exponential population growth.
Electric Lab is dedicated to experimentation and art-making practices within the ranges of electricity. Artists were asked to suggest new ways to access electricity and explore its power. This exhibition is inspired by and dedicated to the scientist Nicola Tesla, who desired free access of electricity for all.
The exhibition includes projects from 21 international artists:
Jamie Allen builds an archaic hand-cranked generator through which visitors can supply power to other works in the exhibition.
The artist collective Bruce High Quality Foundation will build a quarter sized scale model of the BP filling station located adjacent to Exit Art. Powered by lemons and limes, the replica hints at the ironies associated with BP’s green rebranded image.
Kelly Dobson’s kinetic sculptural works explore the psychological relationships we form with machines.
Collaborators Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson’s fabricate a neon sign that illuminates the rivalry between Tesla and Edison.
Arthur Elsenaar and Remko Scha study the mechanisms of human facial expression in the series Electric Eigen Portraits.
Erik Guzman’s sculptures use light and motion to covey the kinetic energy of a celestial eclipse.
Flash Light explores renewable energy with a solar powered tin can candle.
With their interactive sculptural synthesizer, Lighter Than Air and Easier to Carry, the artist duo LoVid allows electrical signals fromparticipants' bodies to fuse with synthesized signals, controllingaudio and video generated by the installation.
Brendan McGillicuddy uses a Van der Graaf machine and taxidermy to creates a portal into an improbable 19th century diorama.
Bryan Mesenbourg uses found objects to create an interactive installation that forces the audience to reevaluate their tactical experience with electricity.
The sculptures of Arnaldo Morales expose the raw and visceral attributes of an electrical current.
Marco Roso’s window installation Hangover is a fog-filled space that pulsates with a strobe light, referencing the electric haze of the 90’s Raver scene.
Simon Schiessl reflects on the current global energy crisis with a fallen power tower constructed of fluorescent light tubes.
Gregory Shakar’s Magnitudes of Tempered Consonance is an installation that allows participants to perform tuned "lightning" through audible, musically tempered electrical flames.
Luke Stettner turns a gallery wall into an electrical receptor that physically draws visitors into an otherwise empty space.
Hap Tivey contrasts the work of Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla through a LED portrait that draws from both the AC and DC electronic grid.
Seth Weiner's installations will explore natural phenomena of electricity through experiments in the creation of St Elmo's Fire and investigations into the application of electronic muscle stimulation for the reanimation of meat.
Revel Woodard creates an electric love seat based on the Victorian “tet-a -tet” chair.
In addition to the artist’s completed, installed works, an on-site electric laboratory will provide an opportunity for artists to collaborate and create new electric-based projects.
The ubiquitous presence of audio amplification in Electric Lab references the drastic effect the advent of Electricity had on the human relationship to sound and audiovisuals. Electric Lab will be shown in conjunction with three evenings of music, performance and an ongoing film series...more.
Thursday, October 11th, 9-11pm: Koen Holtkamp, Queens, and Corridors will perform their minimal electro-acoustic music
Thursday, October 18th, 9-Midnight: A night of electricity-inspired music featuring the DJs Crunc Tesla, Prince Language and Brennan Green.
Thursday, October 25th, 8-10pm: Live performances by LoVid and Jamie Allen.
Since its advent, electricity has metaphorically and physically illuminated mankind. The Electric Lab film program casts a critical glance into the history of electricity with five films that explore its aesthetic, scientific and sociological relevance. One film will be played each day over the course of the exhibition from September 20 to November 17. Click here for schedule and more information.
CURATORS
Jeanette Ingberman
Papo Colo
ARTISTS
Jamie Allen, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Kelly Dobson, Aaron S. Davidson, Melissa Dubbin, Arthur Elsenaar, Flash Light, Erik Guzman, LoVid, Jeff Matney, Brendan McGillicuddy, Bryan Mesenbourg, Arnaldo Morales, Marco Roso, Remko Scha, Simon Schiessl, Gregory Shakar, Luke Stettner, Hap Tivey, Seth Weiner, Revel Woodard
CURATORIAL TEXT
La electricidad es movimiento, su reciclaje, el cambio,
Su fuerza es una acción que no conoce su origen.
Sin friccíon, su poder se desvanece,
Y su iluminaciones son devoradas por lo oscuro.
La electricidad es el testigo del espacio, que va contando el tiempo.
Que ocupa el cuerpo y su distancia,
De impulso a impulso lo eléctrico abraza la historia.
La fuerza invisible que multiplica,
Y nos regala el conocimiento y la autoridad para descubrinos mas…
fabrica el alma
La electricidad es La chispa que descubrimos para nuestra comodidad.
Tan natural que la damos por descontado.
se convierte en rutina en nuestra civilizacíon en movimiento,
Mas rápida que la luz, la electricidad siempre brilla.
Asi empieza su revelacíon y conocemos su contenido
Y la informacíon de lo que nos hace movernos.
La electricidad es , lo que explica los sentidos.
Y el motivo visceral de lo que sueñas,
sin electricidad el Corazón se paraliza,
el cuerpo pierde su espirítu.
te conviertes en átomo eléctrico,
y paseas impaciente entre nuestras vidas,
Sin voz , haciendo toda clases de señales,
Insistiendo que quieres vivir nuevamente,
Para volver a ser parte del voltaje.
Que circunferencia nuestro mistisismo,
Creando neutrones virgenes
Para cuando vuelvas la proxima vez
Nunca el mismo y sin final
Voltiando y revolotiando
En el centro de este mundo.
"Brains are electric, when neurons talk, they speak in voltage…"
-Wired Magazine
Electricity is movement, it recycles change.
This force is an action that does not know its origins.
Without friction its might fades.
Illuminations are devoured by the obscure.
Electricity is the witness of space that is counting time,
that ocupies the body and its distance.
Impulse to impulse electricity embrace history.
The invisible energy that multiplies us
and gives us our soul, the knowledge and authority for self discovery.
Electricity is the spark that we discover for comfort
so natural that we take it for granted.
Becoming routine in this moving civilization.
Faster than light. Electricity shines
and unfold its secrets.
That is how we know its content,
and how we produce the information of what makes us move.
Electricity is what explains the senses,
the visceral motive of what you dream.
Without this current the heart is paralyzed,
the body loses the spirit and you become an electric atom.
That with impatience hangs around mute,
making all kind of signals.
Insisting to live again,
returning as part of the voltage
that circumnavigates our mysticism.
And creates virgin neutrons for the next time around.
Never ending, never the same.
Turning and returning in the center of this world.
Papo Colo
NYC 2007
EXHIBITION POSTER
Funders
Electric Lab is funded in part by Carnegie Corporation, Jerome Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Starry Night Fund at The Tides Foundation, Exit Art’s Board of Trustees and our members.
Inspired by and dedicated to the scientist Nicola Tesla, who envisioned free electricity for all.
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