Solo Exhibition Project for the AC Institute. New York City
December 12th – February 22nd 2014
December 12th – February 22nd 2014
by Jessica Angel
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
INTRODUCTION
CONCEPTUAL BASIS
DESCRIPTION AND PROCESS
PUBLIC PROGRAMING
VISUALIZATION
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"The "Strange
Loop" phenomenon occurs whenever, by moving upwards (or downwards) through
levels of some hierarchical system, we unexpectedly find ourselves right back
where we started."
Douglas Hofstadter
"That
which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above
corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One
Thing." Thus, whatever happens on any level of reality (physical, emotional,
or mental) also happens on every other level.
"The Emerald Tablet of Hermes
Trismegistus"
INTRODUCTION
The solar system can easily
be paralleled with the “basic” unit of matter, the atom. Operations of a
colossal city are analogous to the miniature calculations of a computer. Phenomena of any system occur every
instant, simultaneously, on small and large scales. I am interested in
exploring these patterns and parallel realities, this duality between the vast
and the minute. The deeper into the minute one goes, the closer one gets to
understanding the large and vice versa.
I have chosen two specific
analogies to embody the idea of the minute and the vast as equivalents 1) the
relationship between the outer space and the digital information space and 2)
the similarity between urban planning and computer integrated circuits.
To work around this dichotomy I will create an immersive installation
that takes over the northern room of the AC Institute. I plan to "invert" these two ideas representing
the "large" in a small scale and the "minute" in an outsized
scale, emphasizing the concept of the strange loop and the
cyclic patterns. The installation will make reference to the micro world of
computers in correlation with outer space phenomena.
CONCEPTUAL BASIS
The vast space of surrounding information.
The more we connect
to the net of human understanding recorded in books and the internet, the more
we realize there are immense amounts of data that we will never be able to
grasp. Human knowledge is an ancient “living” being that crosses throughout
history because the mesh of information is as old as writing itself. The
branched pattern of this net is similar to that of a system, in which you plug-into
and start traveling through, finding yourself in an endless universe. I can't
help comparing this virtual space where information flows, to the outer space; Clusters
of ideas bundled together, sharing a common essence, rotate around a central
theme, while other groups of ideas rotate around the opposite theme
complementarily. The two groups of ideas appear to work in a corresponding way,
where negative and positive, true and false, cannot be one without the other.
(Dionysius could not exist if it wasn’t for Apollo or vice versa) Numerous questions rise when I
address these similes. Where is
this ethereal place where ideas flow located? Can we relate the behavior of
information to atomic or cosmological behaviors?
Erasing the Limits of
Space.
Speed, war, love,
theft, commerce, crowds – everything we know to be characteristic of a contemporary
city, has been codified. A mirrored virtual image of the “outside” has been
created inside our computing machines. The ways our cities are planned seem to
correlate to the structure of a motherboard. Even if we go further into the
microscope we find the structures of neurons to be remarkably similar to that
of cities. Are these resemblances related to the nature of interconnectivity? Why
are these natural and artificial forms so similar and is there such a difference
between the two? Can we compare the micro-structure of computer integrated
circuits to the mega-structure of the universe?
DESCRIPTION AND
PROCESS
Using black
adhesive vinyl over the walls, floor and ceiling of the room, I will depict an outer-space scene inspired in images of microchips.
I will "enlarge" the micro world of computer electronics and “reduce”
the macro-cosmos to the size of the gallery space. The installation will seem
like a black hole in the corner of the room that sucks in the space-time mesh
where urban looking, three-dimensional objects will be placed. Using complex perspective techniques,
this spatially transformative mural will create the effect that the gallery boundaries
have been erased.
Low and spaced sounds developed by sound designer Gilberto Castillo will
be part of this immersive mural.
PUBLIC PROGRAMING
This project aims to foster
cross-disciplinary initiatives enabling forms of collaboration among sciences,
philosophy, music, art and new media in order to create a collective
environment crucial for contemporary practices.
Five sessions will be held during the exhibition period where guests will host lectures, performances and interventions around the ideas addressed in this project.
Live
Footage
Thursday
December 19th 2013 - 6 to 8 pm
Music
Performance
Live
Footage is often described as some of the finest “surrealist soundtrack
composers” in the making by scoring some of the most eclectic contemporary
pieces in film, fashion, dance and in tune composing their own music. Conceived
through the art of improvisation, Topu Lyo plays a 5 string electric cello,
incorporating the use of live loops and a handful of electronics with no
pre-recorded samples of any kind, and Mike Thies plays drums and keyboards,
often simultaneously. The coherent complexity is what consistently wows new
listener's ears away. Plain and
simple, they are cinematic, experimental, yet still catchy and melodic. To
define this Brooklyn duo's sound deems a broad answer. Elements of Dub, and Hip Hop can be
heard alongside influences of psychedelic post rock, and jazz. They are equally
at home playing underground Brooklyn loft parties, as they are playing concert
halls. The NYC music scene has
served as their platform for more than 5 years and audiences around the world
have praised their work.
Nelson
Ramon
Thursday
January 16th 2014 – 6 to 8 pm
Interactive
and Technological Intervention
In
collaboration with Jessica Angel, Nelson will incorporate technological
elements in order to increase the immersive experience of the installation.
Sensors will trigger visual and audio narratives that will invite the audience
to modify, alter and interact with the space and they way they perceive it.
Bio:
Nelson
Ramon graduated from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP ’12) at
NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, creating projects involving object fabrication,
computer vision and generative visualizations among others. His Master’s thesis
research, and on going project, intersects bioart, sustainability and
biotechnology. He works in various scientific, academic, art and design fields
since he got his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Systems Engineering
from Los Andes University, Bogotá, Colombia. Nelson has been professor for the
Arts department of Los Andes University, Javeriana University, and the Design
department of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, teaching digital and electronic
arts for graduate and undergraduate programs. He showcased his work in the
Maker’s Fair in NYC on 2011 and 2012, where he won the Editors Choice Blue
Ribbon for “In the wind”. Nelson currently works at Big Spaceship, a digital
experience agency, and as a tech mentor for children and teenagers with HTink,
the Makery and Mouse Corps NYC.
Jaclyn
Avidon
Thursday
January 30th 2014 7 – 8 pm
Talk
/ Astronomy and Mathematics
Does
Infinity Have a Size?
If
you talk to mathematicians, they'll tell you infinity, in fact, comes in more
than one size. And you don't have to be a mathematical wizard to see why. I
will discuss what the concept of infinity means in mathematics, and how we can
show that there are multiple types of infinity. As long as you know how to count, you can see that just as
infinity has many representations in art, it also has many representations in
mathematics.
The
following article is the basis for this talk:
Bio:
Jaclyn
Avidon is a member of the Board of Directors of the Amateur Astronomers
Association of New York, a member of the Association’s Education Committee, the
Chair of the Association’s School Outreach Committee, and an instructor for the
Association’s classes. Jaclyn
graduated with honors from Lafayette College with a Bachelor’s degree in
Physics and a minor in Mathematics.
She spent over two years researching the subsurface conditions of
Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, including a summer spent at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Jaclyn is a frequently invited guest
speaker at astronomy seminars and currently works in educational technology.
Soler
Thursday
February 13th 2014, 6-8 pm
Performance
Intervention
"All existence flows in the stream of creation and passing away"
Heraclitus
Soler
connects to the passion that exists in the project As Above, So Below, as it highlights the life of men and his
connection to the universe.
In
the open complex landscape the installation provides, Soler will develop
visceral performances and interventions using material found around the
exhibition space. He sees this proposal as a space of sculptural extrusion
where he will respond to with some nostalgia inspired in the ideas of Fluxus.
Bio:
Soler
is a visual artist whose name was taken directly from the surname of a famous Colombian
biker who suffered a brutal accident. Therefore, the word “Soler” translates as
a metaphor for resistance, will, survival and persistence. In this context, the
artist gives special value to the processes that come with art making rather
that searching for individual recognition. Soler triggers actions in
performances and extends them to photography, painting, video and site-specific
installations, building spaces where these practices are interwoven and the
presence of the body can be read from its absence.
He
has a BFA from the University of Brighton and an MFA from UCL, Slade. He has
exhibited alongside some of the great figures in art at the royal academy of
art in London. For several years he worked as a personal assistant for the
renowned Spanish artist Angela de la Cruz and participated in the development
of large artist projects for Mike Smith Studio in London.
Gilberto
Castillo
Thursday
February 20th 2014, 6–8 pm
Sound
Design
Sounds
Above/Vibrates Below
“Sounds
Above/Vibrates Below” is a work based on a simple melody, which is
deconstructed to slowly distribute its subtracted elements in simultaneous
pitch and rhythmic planes, generating a rather spaced static texture. Another
layer interacts with the melodic texture, shifting between synthetic sounds and
field recordings of natural elements, human chants, city rumbles, and other soundscapes,
aiming to reflect the similarities of one into each other. This piece has been
created under the same concepts and ideas as the exhibition “As above, so
below” from Jessica Angel.
Gilberto
Castillo is a Colombian composer and sound designer based in Australia, who has
worked for experimental and short films, collaborated with several sound and
plastic artists as well as working in music production and composition.
VISUALIZATION
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