Science / Fiction
ACRE Projects 1913 W 17th Street
Oct. 26-Nov. 10, 2014
Artists: Reuven Israel, Kimberly Kim, Noa Dolberg and Ryan Thomson
Curator: Ruslana Lichtzier
A true, yet fictional, tale of a prehistoric technology.
Findings of a dark ink, containing secrets, messages from outer space.
Conscience letters that reveal the curious case of an unavoidable misfortune of those
who stole petrified wood. A scandalous link between the history of carcinogenic chemical
solvents in garment cleaning industry, and the use of plants for indoor air pollution
abatement.
Concrete abstractions that demand affection.
Treating Science/Fiction as a platform to explore the field of science, and its fiction, the participating artists perform obscure and obsessive empirical investigations, pseudo utopic speculations and humorist lyric, natural observations.
Ryan Thompson brings together artifacts from two distinct projects: “PLANT ON PREMISES” and “Bad Luck, Hot Rocks.” The “PLANT ON PREMISES” collage examines the aesthetics of the garment cleaning industry, the history of chemical solvents and its curious link to the use of plants for indoor air pollution reduction. “Bad Luck, Hot Rocks” documents, in the form of a book, the phenomenon "conscience letters," sent by visitors that removed, without permission, wood from the Petrified Forest National Park in Northeast Arizona.
Kimberly Kim research in cosmic and earthy liquid surfaces takes the form of archival-print objects. Printing and blowing up high-res scientific images on high contrast ox-blood-wine papers, the images morph data onto the surface of the print in attempt to create new materialism.
Noa Dolberg pairs her “Gadget for the Caveman” with Reuven Israel’s DFOM leaning objects to create one atmospheric installation. Dolberg’s “Gadget for the Caveman”—a light bulb floor arrangement—dims in relation to values from an analyzed video of a campfire, while sound, from a hidden source, plays a video’s soundtrack of crackling flames, supporting the experience of an indoor campfire. Next to it, Reuven Israel's DFOM (Don't Fall On Me) is leaning against the wall; a lacquered wooden globe, a planet-like-sphere propped up on a copper rod.
The show will also provide a glimpse of hidden artifacts from the artists’ studios and research-related production materials.