Surface/Depth
February 9-29, 2024
Reception February 9, 5pm-7pm
Is it possible to enter a visual art space with little to no information to form an idea of your experience before you actually/intentionally experience it? What does it mean to let go of expectation and be in the moment?
Between surface and depth is liminal space. In-between-ness. It is an invisible threshold separating where you have been and where you are going. It is a permeable portal between what lived experience has shaped and the possibilities of what that lived observation will shape in the future.
This installation has light; this installation has sound; these two separate projects provide experiential overlap. You are invited to experience this exhibit at your own pace and in your own unique way. No two experiences will be the same.
Surface/Depth is a light installation using specialized filters and directional lights to produce overlapping and playful bursts of color by artist Chris Jeffrey.
The sound installation Ripples / Refractions is composed by Game Sound Design student Graham Sullivan and Game Studio Faculty/artist John Thomas Levee. The sound is designed to reflect a near endless pool of colors, with no minute being the same.
Artist Statement:
“While my work can be characterized as light art, I don’t particularly think of
myself as a light artist in the currently understood sense. A lot of light art these
days is heavy on technology, employing everything from computer programs and
elaborate lighting arrays to lit-up drones in the sky. The effect can be really cool,
but I think much of the human element can get lost in the spectacle. And so while
the colored filters I use in my art are made for high-tech applications, like medical
devices and astronomical imaging, I use them simply as a means to get color
(admittedly very flashy color) into my art, the beams of light comparable to paint
brush strokes. As an exploration of color I see my work as having more of an
affinity with Abstract Expressionist painters like Willem de Kooning and Mark
Rothko than with light artists such as James Turrell and Olafur Eliasson (both of
whose work I do love, bombast and all).
The pieces in this exhibit are meant to create a space where the viewer becomes
absorbed in light and color. The experience can be meditative, it can be
energizing, it can promote wonder, it can even be meh. I don’t want to tell
people how to engage with it; everyone should have their own personal
experience. I do, though, encourage people to take a little bit of time looking at
the pieces. The more you look the more things you might notice: subtle shadings
of color, perceptions of depth, different intensities of light, the beauty of black as
a color, and things I probably haven’t even noticed myself. And as you get more
absorbed by what you’re seeing my hope is that it might quiet your mind a little,
allowing you to become more present to the moment and to the power and
beauty of pure light and color.” – Chris Jeffrey
Graham Sullivan is a student at Champlain College, studying Game Sound Design with a passion for music and soundscapes. Graham’s interest in long-form audio experiences has led him down a path of exploration.
Ripples / Refractions is a deep dive into the atmospheres that can emerge from multiple soundscapes. By overlapping drones, field recordings, and tones at random intervals, an infinite amount of possibilities can emerge. No minute is the same, no matter how long the viewer stays to listen. Different textures and pulses may appear that have never been heard together, by both the artists and the listeners. This ephemeral nature of things also means that not all moments will feel the same. Some may appear more dissonant than others, and some may feel in complete harmony.
Let the sound guide you in your exploration of the light refractions. Like in the soundscape, there are details in the lights that may only appear to you after many minutes, and some that will stay undiscovered forever.