Alexandra P. Spaulding "White Nights"
Stephan Stoyanov Gallery
This event has ended.
Stephan Stoyanov Gallery presents Alexandra P. Spaulding -'White Nights'.
Following a presentation of two pieces in the context of a group show at the gallery in January of this year, Buffalo-based artist Alexandra P. Spaulding's first solo exhibition at Stephan Stoyanov Gallery offers an overview of the wider spectrum of her practice.
In addition to two sculptural pieces, 'White Nights' comprises a sculptural/sound installation and a purely immersive sound piece.
The two 'sculptures', entitled You And Me I and You And Me II (all works 2012), reference certain aspects of minimalism - one of the artist's main sources of inspiration in terms of materials and visual presentation - while addressing greater concerns that interest her. They are in essence the result of a process of reduction and translation, over and over again. The pieces originate in two sound waves translated into neon, which are encased in silicone rubber. Each of the pieces then takes another turn through being encased in Perspex, making the trajectory from the most ephemeral of utterances to a concrete, tangible object manifest.
The sculptural/sound piece, Four To The Floor, also plays with the interrelationship between an ephemeral source and tangible substance. Again the source is sound, but in this case in its original form, although in frequencies that are sub-audible. They are felt rather than heard. The three subwoofers embedded in the three sculptural elements emit sound waves that literally make the non-Newtonian fluid poured into the speaker mouths 'dance', thus making the work unpredictably and literally playful. By offering the viewer a bench, they are invited to engage with it as if they were watching a performance, albeit one without actors, the action emerging from an interaction between the intangible and the physical.
The fourth work, Fever Dreams, is an immersive installation. It confronts us with the dichotomy between a sound composition, which the artists has described as 'not for the fainthearted', and an environment that is set out to offer the viewer a context in which to relax and 'fall into the work'. The tension between the laid-back environment and the 'non-easy listening' experience, highlights the artist's desire to make us as viewers/listeners pay as much attention to detail and nuance as she does herself.
Media
Schedule
from June 27, 2012 to August 12, 2012
Opening Reception on 2012-06-27 from 18:00 to 21:00