NYAB Event - Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher "Trailer"

Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher "Trailer"

Derek Eller Gallery

This event has ended.

Derek Eller Gallery presents a multi-part electromechanical installation by Jeff Shore and Jon Fisher titled Trailer.

For their first major exhibition in New York in five years, Texas-based collaborators Shore and Fisher will transform the gallery into an immersive environment comprised of sound, projection, and sculpture. A network of ten kinetic wall sculptures of wood, metal, and intricate wiring house hand-built scale models, motors, bulbs, miniature surveillance cameras, and microchips. These apparatuses work together to generate live video sequences which are shown in projection throughout the gallery as well as an accompanying real time soundtrack.

Rather than presenting a concrete narrative, the video sequences inTrailer present a somewhat ambiguous emulation of cinema. Scenes, devoid of any human presence, include an exotic landscape, a phone booth, a trailer park, and an empty stage with a microphone. An array of musical instruments (i.e., drums with a high hat, a tuba) periodically appear and play within the scenes. Through the sequencing of music and image, Trailer offers a unique, but familiar, experience.

Performance and participation are key aspects of Shore and Fisher's work. While the sculptures perform their individual roles in generating the audio and video elements of the projections, viewers of the exhibition will also perform as they scurry back and forth from screen to mechanical instrument to determine which component is creating image or sound. To the passive viewer, the installation may be playful and inviting, but for the curious participant, the immersive environments have rewards for digging deeper, as a trail of evidence remains. Technologies are exposed to bring the viewer into the realm of problem solving.

Shore and Fisher have been collaborating since 2002. With a background in visual arts, Shore makes the majority of the sculpture and visual components. As a composer and computer programmer, Fisher is responsible for the sound, electronics and programming that runs the installation. Their last major installation, Reel to Reel (2007), was exhibited at The Kemper Art Museum, The Weatherspoon Art Museum, and The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.