Reception

Reception focuses on the material divide of physical and digital experience. The photographs document a series of physical scenarios played out against a digital flatscreen backdrop. Materials are scattered, rubbed and poured across its surface and support. A head, hands, fish and fowl take a performative turn on its stage. Objects are placed and lit to carefully integrate with the pixelated information. Others are set on fire, blasted with a hose or hurled across the frame. The setups utilize both vertical and horizontal orientation and explore a range of effects from gravity.

Shot digitally, the work captures that slice of physical experience caught in the interstitial space between a screen projecting and the lens absorbing ever more information. They recall us to the body ever in attendance there and rally for a more active encounter. The title Reception refers to the receiving of broadcast signals. But reception is also “the action or process of receiving something sent, given, or inflicted; the formal or ceremonious welcoming of a guest; a celebration.” With a nod to concepts in Expressionist painting and Feminist performance, they catch a trace of a viewer on the surface of the image being seen.