PLAY STATION at Postmasters in NYC
(So here I am, another Grateful Grapefruit poster. I’m Peter and I hail originally from Burlington, Vermont, but I study New Media outside of NYC at SUNY Purchase. Expect posts from me regarding local NYC artists, happenings, and other things.)
This past week I attended a very interesting new media art show at Chelsea gallery Postmasters on the corner of 19th St and 10th Ave. After just returning from studying abroad in Berlin for the past four months, I was excited to see what had been cooking in the contemporary art scene back in NY. With my best friend Annamarie and my jet lag in tow, I checked out what this show had to offer.
I had heard from a peer of mine that one of our professors (and my academic adviser) the ever so talented Joe McKay was exhibiting there. I had never seen Joe’s work in a show before, so I was super excited to see how it would manifest in person. Joe does some fascinating work that revolves a lot around physical hacking culture, especially utilizing old technology and short circuiting them. He also dabbles in the java code software Processing to churn out some incredibly addicting games. (Check out “Avoid“. Say goodbye to any productivity.) I had seen footage of McKay’s piece “Swatter” prior, but it was even better in person. It perfectly blends computer based graphics with real physical objects.
The game installation involves a projected playing field of bugs crawling at the center of the screen. A lightbulb stands in the center as does the player depicted as a triangle. The player sits at a table with a wooden dial for rotating the triangle, a fly swatter in their right hand, and a button to their left to turn on the light bulb. There is also a motor which hits a percussion instrument that gets faster as more bugs approach the player. The objective of the game is basically like Space Invaders, except it takes a more physical approach. To kill the bugs, the player must slap the fly swatter on the spray painted section of table to fire at the approaching bugs. If the player gets overwhelmed, they can use the blue button to turn on the light bulb to scare away their enemies and give them a breather. Here’s a video of it in action:
Among him were artists like Paul Slocum, Mary Flanagan, Ernesto Klar, Jeremiah Johnson (also known for his chiptunes under Null Sleep), and Rafaël Rozendaal.
Ernesto Klar‘s instillation “Luzes Relacionais” (Portuguese for “relational lights”) was of particular interest to me. Tucked away out of sight from the rest of the show, I wouldn’t have seen it if someone from the gallery hadn’t told me it was behind the curtains. What was waiting in the dark room were two projectors casting thin white lines onto a black carpet. A haze floating through the atmosphere made the lines appear as walls of light descending from the projectors. As you walk closer to the lines you begin to see that they interact with your bodily presence. After some time the lines begin to change, from one line, to two lines, then to three. The squiggly lines let out digital moans as they contort to your proximity. It was a breath taking installation experience that really need to be seen in person to fully appreciate.
I have never not been amazed by what artists are capable of creating through digital platforms these days. Although the show is closed now, keep an eye on these amazing artists working in interactive computer and digital media.
