G e r m i n a l
April 08 - June 05, 2016
Germinal refers to the earliest stage of development. Seeds are a good example. The early stages of language growth are germinal. From every germinal moment comes the potential to grow and become hybrid.
This exhibition pulls together 3 installations by 6 artists. The works incorporate hybrid creatures, hybrid words & hybrid languages. Interestingly all the works are created by artists who work in partnerships.
A hybrid has the characteristics of two individuals with the potential for internal conflict and increased capabilities. Hybrid words & languages can be seen as deceptive or difficult to control. Stories of hybrid heroes abound ; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Hulk, super heroes & super villains who experience their duality as both a conflict and a gift. We see hybrid cars, hybrid transplants, hybrid bacteria and hybrid cultural dualities. Sometimes viewed as positive, at other times threatening.
The hybrid creature pre-dates writing. The first image we have is in the Chauvet cave. The Sorcerer Rock shows a drawing of a human-becoming-bison. It is a powerful symbol. Our past is awash with hybrid bodies; fantastical creatures demonstrating the formative power of imagination. Hybrid creatures have always had great popular appeal. At the same time they faced intense criticism from controlling hierarchies. Historical discussion raged on the need to subdue the image of the hybrid and so control artistic expression. Artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo weighed in on the debate. Over time the discussion changed from a focus on the bodies of imaginary beings to a more expansive idea of hybridity connected with metaphor, dreams, psychologies and challenging the limits of artistic imagination. These early debates changed the role of the artist and how we understand art today.
This exhibition pulls together 3 installations by 6 artists. The works incorporate hybrid creatures, hybrid words & hybrid languages. Interestingly all the works are created by artists who work in partnerships.
A hybrid has the characteristics of two individuals with the potential for internal conflict and increased capabilities. Hybrid words & languages can be seen as deceptive or difficult to control. Stories of hybrid heroes abound ; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Hulk, super heroes & super villains who experience their duality as both a conflict and a gift. We see hybrid cars, hybrid transplants, hybrid bacteria and hybrid cultural dualities. Sometimes viewed as positive, at other times threatening.
The hybrid creature pre-dates writing. The first image we have is in the Chauvet cave. The Sorcerer Rock shows a drawing of a human-becoming-bison. It is a powerful symbol. Our past is awash with hybrid bodies; fantastical creatures demonstrating the formative power of imagination. Hybrid creatures have always had great popular appeal. At the same time they faced intense criticism from controlling hierarchies. Historical discussion raged on the need to subdue the image of the hybrid and so control artistic expression. Artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo weighed in on the debate. Over time the discussion changed from a focus on the bodies of imaginary beings to a more expansive idea of hybridity connected with metaphor, dreams, psychologies and challenging the limits of artistic imagination. These early debates changed the role of the artist and how we understand art today.
Curation + Design: Sarah Joyce + Gordon Duggan
Laramascoto
Animalium ; La Pesadilla de Narciss
A large, interactive installation. Through the use of interactive voice modulation technologies the work explores the production of hybrid bodies using responsive language. A 3D wireframe portrait of the spectator is captured through an intel depth camera and projected in real time. Using their own voice, the spectator morphs his/her image by mimicking the sounds of animals; by attempting to ‘become’ animal. As the sounds are picked up and recognized by the computer, and as the viewer learns cutes, the wire-frame portrait morphs into an animal. Voice modulation triggers the face transformation. Eight clay sculptures were produced from 3D scans of the wireframe portraits.
Image
Credits
Animalium : La Pesadilla de Narcisso
2014
Interactive Installation with Sculptural Components, Voice Recognition and Sound
2014
Interactive Installation with Sculptural Components, Voice Recognition and Sound
Biography
Beatriz Coto and Santiago Lara work as the collective 'Laramascoto'. This award-winning couple studied Fine Arts at the Universidad de Granada and the Universidada Computense de Madrid respectively. They have exhibited throughout Europe, winning the 'Premoi Joven JUST MAG' (Emerging Artists Prize) at Just Madrid and the Primer Premio in Arte40.
Laramascoto brings together the most basic of technologies; drawing, with the latest in new technologies. .
Laramascoto brings together the most basic of technologies; drawing, with the latest in new technologies. .
Hironako & Suib
The Soft Epic, or; Savages of the Pacific West
A monumental 5-screen video and audio installation examining historical and contemporary representations of cultural anxiety, and the fluid relationship between History and Cinema. Comprised of multiple (collaged) parts and a commissioned surround soundtrack by Bird Show, the work synthesizes images and effects from historical panoramas, epic sci-fi and disaster films, and the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch in a fractured, dystopic cityscape dotted with eternal flames and chimeras. The work in Germinal is presented on a 65’ curved wall.
Image
Credits
Soft Epic or; Savages of the Pacific West
2008
5-screen projection with surround sound
2008
5-screen projection with surround sound
Biography
Nadia Hironaka received her Masters of Fine Art from the Art Institute of Chicago and her Bachelors of Fine Art from the University of the Arts. She currently resides in Philadelphia and is a professor at The Maryland Institute College of Art. She was a 2008 Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellow and received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2006. Other awards include: The Leeway Foundation, Peter Stuyvessant Fish Award in Media Arts, prig”me video artist award, The Black maria Film Festival , and The New York Short Exposition Film Festival. Her films and video installations have been exhibited internationally both in group and solo exhibitions.
Matthew Suib has exhibited installations, video-sound works and photographs internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. He was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and was a Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellow. He was also a former member of the esteemed Philadelphia artist collective Vox Populi.
Suib and HIronaka have collaborated since 2008. They were awarded a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowships for exceptional creative ability in the arts. They have exhibited worldwide and their work can be found in major collections. In 2007, they founded 'Screening' an exhibition space in Philadelphia dedicated to exhibiting innovative works on video and film. They consider this exhibition space an extension of their own artistic practice.
Matthew Suib has exhibited installations, video-sound works and photographs internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. He was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and was a Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Fellow. He was also a former member of the esteemed Philadelphia artist collective Vox Populi.
Suib and HIronaka have collaborated since 2008. They were awarded a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowships for exceptional creative ability in the arts. They have exhibited worldwide and their work can be found in major collections. In 2007, they founded 'Screening' an exhibition space in Philadelphia dedicated to exhibiting innovative works on video and film. They consider this exhibition space an extension of their own artistic practice.
Suhee Kim & Oliver Smith
Hybrid Words
Hybrid Words 1 is a single screen, mute projection. It was created as part of the experimental ‘Synthetic Aesthetics’ an international research project organized by the University of Edinburgh and Stanford University. Together, artists, designers and social scientists explored the complexity of living systems. Biological word (often of animal origin) move across the screen in an apparently random fashion. They approach and then meet, exploding into ‘digital dust’, reforming and becoming a new word based on a programmed logic based on biological systems. The process repeats, new words being generated constantly and endlessly.
Image
coming soon
Credits
Hybrid Words 1
2014
Single screen projection, mute
2014
Single screen projection, mute
Biography
Suhee Kim
is an emerging Korean artist who lives and works in London. She has exhibited throughout the UK, Europe and in Korea. She received her BFA at the Incheon National University in Korea and MA from the Royal College of Art, London.
Oliver Smith is an emerging London-based artist and researcher. His work investigates the myths surrounding large-scale systems, processes and computation and their techno-political impact. Oliver co-chairs the demystification Committee and is an associate lecturer at the London College of Communication and the University of Creative Arts. He has an MA in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art, London. He has performed & exhibited throughout the UK and in Europe.
Oliver Smith is an emerging London-based artist and researcher. His work investigates the myths surrounding large-scale systems, processes and computation and their techno-political impact. Oliver co-chairs the demystification Committee and is an associate lecturer at the London College of Communication and the University of Creative Arts. He has an MA in Information Experience Design from the Royal College of Art, London. He has performed & exhibited throughout the UK and in Europe.