The Particle and the Wave

This past summer I had the pleasure of participating in one of the most exciting group shows I've yet been a part of. Jeanne Brasile, director of Seton Hall University's Walsh Gallery, and artist Gianluca Bianchino teamed up as the curatorial duo Wavelength. For their inaugural exhibition they examined the physics of their namesake, inviting light artists to give their take on The Particle and the Wave.

For a great review of the show, check out NotWhatItIs's article

Also check out my feature interview! (a true honor given the lineup in this show)

Held at Index Art Center in Newark, the curatorial team utterly reinvented the gallery space, building walls and even entire rooms, and having all of the light in the gallery be provided by the artwork itself.

I'm honored to have been a part of this show, sharing the gallery with the likes USCO (the collective of Gerd Stern and Michael Callahan), whose work in the show incorporated video pieces borrowed from Nam Jun Paik and Charlotte Moorman (Which officially makes me 6 degrees separated from Kevin Bacon, but only 2 degrees from Nam Jun Paik!). 

I'll probably never forget Jean relating Gerd's story of escaping Germany during WWII, trying to hack it as a poet and ending up impoverished, meeting Alan Ginsberg in a mental institution, getting kicked out, and then finding his way with likes of John Cage, Harry Partch, Maya Angelou, and the Black Mountain School (this is the tame version of the story).

As if that weren't enough, I was also in the company of heavyweights Stanley Casselman, Carol Salmanson, Ryan Roa, Andrew Demirjian, Jain Kwak, Greg Leshe, Sunil Garg, and my former MFA comrade Christine Soccio Romanell.

Hyalo 3 (WaveParticle)

With the gallery being entirely dark, it was a perfect occasion for me to develop another iteration of my Hyalo series.

This series is an offshoot of my projection negation work, combining projected and painted color. But instead of negating each other, the Hyalo projects blend to an iridescent, ambiguous third color that resembles stained glass, and seems to float at an indeterminate depth on the wall.

For more details on the theory and conceptual matter behind the project, I'll refer you to my interview (also linked above).

Instead, here I'll share some progress shots with you.

My wall, fresh and clean

Projecting the image and masking off the shapes to be painted

All masked off and ready to be painted

Painting in one half of the color blend

The most satisfying part:

Evidence of a completed meditation

Calibrating the projected colors using Photoshop and a Max/MSP Patch I designed

After a few hours of tweaking, it's almost there! Time to export and finish up.

Time to contemplate

Many thanks to Jeanne and Gianluca for including me in this amazing show. It will surely be one I speak fondly of for a very long time!