gigantic artspace

a small look at GIGANTICISM

curated by Alice Arnold and Lea Rekow

15 September – 6 November, 2004

Please join us for the OPENING RECEPTION – Wednesday, 15 September, 6-9PM

Gigantic ArtSpace [GAS] takes a small look at GIGANTICISM – oversized consumption practices; the amplifying power of the media and its exaggeration of the spectacle; a supersized consumer society; the implications of scientific inquiry; global income inequality; ever greater computing power and digital storage capabilities; and spatial and perceptual expansions on land, in water, in the atmosphere, in outer space, inner space and cyber space. An exhibition catalogue will be available.

Chris Musgrave’s Oscilloclast videos deconstruct electrical broadcast signals to create a ‘synaesthetic’ signal of the electromagnetic waves. Matt Siber’s Floating Logos depict corporate signage stripped away from their usual surroundings to float in the sky, confronting and alerting us to corporate branding. Ingo Günther’s globes visually present social, political and economic data from investigations in geographies and cultures. Laura Kurgan uses satellite technology to represent the other side of globalization, or, the landscapes of the materials we need for globalization: wood, water and oil. Martin Beck & Julie Ault’s videos examine another aspect of geography, that of the urban environment: architecture, design, and pop culture. Vargas-Suarez Universal’s paintings uses GPS coordinates to depict spatial relationships and the arrangement of scientific information. Warren Neidich’s Remappings make us conscious of multiple narratives and the possibilities of different time and space relationships. Susan Leopold’s three-dimensional sculptures create virtual worlds that reflect, distort and playfully exaggerate the viewer’s perception and experience of space. Ian Burns’ machines create scenes that lead one into a process of discovery using techniques associated with Enlightenment Era science. Thom Klepach’s self-contained environment models itself on the size-scale quantizations seen in nature, consciousness theory and physical ontology.

Dee Hibbert-Jones’ investigates life and destruction through the beautiful tiny organisms that are on the cutting edge of modern warfare. Lee Etheredge IV’s combinations and permutations of the alphabet create an immensity of knowledge, memory, beauty, tradegies…of massive quantities of data. Mark Tribe, Alexander Galloway & Martin Wattenberg’s virtual net world reflect the reading habits of web surfers in a nocturnal skyscape. Andy Gensler curates sound from the tribal music of entire villages to transmissions into the fatherest reaches of outer space, demonstrating that in music - as in so much else - size matters!