leaving here, being there

David Wicks and I installed our show this last week. Things were strangely relaxed leading up to the opening. We had a few surprises, but in the end everything clicked. We were fortunate to share the evening with a great fine art MFA exhibition across the way, so we got a lot of cross traffic. Trace was reinstalled on the lawn out by the Richard Serra sculpture. The sound was distant enough to create a nice ambience, and it was particularly enjoyable to watch a lot more people interact with it. Some even sat among the plates and relaxed.

I had two other pieces in the show. A small series of altered photos from Havasupai that highlight the impact humans have on the canyon and a projected particle installation with motion and interaction inspired by reef squid. We served dried squid, but had to place it outside because it was smelling up the place. (tasty)

David created a particle projection using Cinder—the latest and greatest open source C++ library. He also had a sculptural piece called Tamerisk that explores the role of salt and fault lines in the desert, his Portable Forest, a jacket that generates natural sounds the more you zip it up, and some amazing work from his site Time Spent Alone.

Many thanks to all who attended and to the department for opening up the space for us to use. It was memorable evening. I’ll post additional photos and documentation of the work soon.