Photo credit: Frank Schwere.
If Then End Else If, solo exhibition, Postmasters, October 20-November 24, 2007
Positioning herself at the center of her projects, Lucas' work addresses the complexity of our relationship to the digital realm and the psychological effects of rapid spread technology. Reversing a popular concept of infusing humanity into machines she instead applies familiar strategies of electronic media to her own life. Transformations, mutations, copies, updates, versions, and self-investigation are the focus of Lucas' exhibition. In "Light Boxes" (digital prints on backlit film) are photographic self-portraits with special f/x makeovers wherein the body appears diseased, the virus attacking the organic matter. Lucas, the techno-martyr, is placed within surroundings infused with digital debris and artifice. The portraits translate the complex state of being either/or, all and in between: send and receive, crash and recovery, and physical and virtual in times of transition and mutability. "Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive" is a multiple channel video projected onto roadside billboards surrounded by a desert landscape. Flaming comets, translated from pinball game graphics into laser-cut forms, pummel a landscape of cast fiberglass rocks, interlacing psychological, physical, and virtual terrains. In the videos, Lucas performs herself differently-abled, set out on an introspective journey in search of self-knowledge, while recovering from the bizarre effects of an inflamed rash, a rash that functions as an antenna for receiving Bingo call numbers. Under the care of licensed hypnotherapist, Dr. Ron Abbott, a collaborator in this lived performance, Lucas retires from her position as Bingo caller (a position that she does not actually hold) at an airport casino (that does not exist). "Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive" emerged out of a collaboration with the artist collective eteam and residents of a small town in Nevada, as a part of the International Airport Montello project. Music composed by Geoffrey Morris.
Photo credit: Frank Schwere.
Photo credit: Frank Schwere.
Installation views: Whatever Your Mind Can Conceive, detail, 2007, 3 channel video installation, fiberglass-plaster cast rocks, acrylic plexiglass comets
Link to detailed images of duratrans lightboxes: Breakout, 2007, digital print on backlit film, lightbox, 36 x 36 inches; Going Static, 2007, digital print on backlit film, lightbox, 36 x 48 inches; Travel Advisory, 2007, digital print on backlit film, lightbox, 36 x 36 inches
Photo credit: Frank Schwere.
Before and After - portraits of Kristin Sue Lucas by 24 artists before and after her government-issued name change.
In "Refresh" the artist receives a government-issued refresh. Kristin Lucas becomes the most current version of herself. Documentation includes a certified name change form, newspaper clipping, sketches from court hearings, and a transcript of a philosophical debate between the artist and the presiding judge over the perception of change. Shown alongside "Refresh" is "Before and After" - a mixed media group show/installation of portrait sets of Kristin Lucas before and after her name change. The artists participating in "Before and After" are: Jake Borndal and Kate Scherer, Patty Chang, Ali Dadgar, Ala Ebtekar, eteam, Matt Freedman, David Hannah, Sue Havens, Jonn Herschend, Perry Hoberman Paul Ramirez Jonas, Arnold J. Kemp, Cristobal Lehyt, LoVid, Laura Parnes, Joe McKay, Geoffrey Morris, Will Pappenheimer, Paul Slocum, Jude Tallichet, and Anne Walsh Read more about Refresh and view images of Before and After artworks here.