Interactivity means never having to say “Why can’t I touch that?”
The McLeod Residence is the subject of a lot of talk, mostly because there is always something interesting happening to, on, or around McLeods–and some of that interesting stuff is always happening on the walls of the gallery. (I, personally, am wildly enamored of Eric Olson’s dinosaur crane paintings. My birthday is in two months, if you were wondering.) I’m always excited to see what the McLeods are doing, not only because they’re my friends, but because once you get past all the hype you realize that truly remarkable things are happening.
Which is why I’m so excited for Interactivity, the show that opens on Friday. I’m a big fan of mixing art, science, and technology, and an even bigger fan of getting to interact with all three of them.
The Barbarian Group (you remember their Subservient Chicken?) has two pieces going up–a collection of magnetic structure prints and some biomimetic butterflies. Robert explains how those work better than I ever could, mostly because I don’t quite understand. I got to take a look at the magnetic structure prints on Tuesday, though, and they’re really lovely. Maggie Orth has another set of interactive textiles going up in the parlor, which certainly explore the possibilities of animating and reimagining something as static as fabric, but which are also frankly amusing to play with. Joel Kollin’s Contexture1 has something to do with laser speckle patterns that make everything sparkle, and that sounds awfully sexy.
Are there barriers between technology and art, and if there are, can they be broken down and recontextualized? Can the hands-on nature of technology and the stand and look nature of art be reconciled? I think the answer is yes, and moreover that the meeting of the two can be accomplished with flair and innovation and maybe a little bit of magic. You can judge for yourself–Interactivity opens with a reception on Friday from 6-9 and will be open until September 1.
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