Inaugural Exhibition @ 161 Glass ~ Opens Friday Jan. 8th @ 8:30 pm
Just before Christmas I had the chance to interview the first artist to exhibit work in our new building @ 161 Glass. James Gilbert, a young talent from LA, has exhibited work around the world. His art reflects both the novelties of pop culture and the universal, even primordial nature of the human psyche.
His current project is titled Warnings and Instructions. It’s a large – scale, interactive installation, taking up several thousand square feet of gallery space.. His exhibition explores the fears of modern travelers and the level of privacy that we are willing to give up in order to feel safe.
It’s an exhibition that couldn’t be more spot on with the current state of human psyche. As I reflect over the events of this past week and all of the media coverage dedicated to the terror attempt aboard a plane on Christmas day I am reminded of how much fear governs our lives. The need to feel safe is a vital human instinct but how much are we willing to let safety inconvenience us? Should we shut down one of the busiest airports in the world when one traveler walks the wrong way down a security line? Are we willing be stripped down and exposed to strangers during a full body scan in order to feel safe? - ok enough of me getting philosophical – I bring this up to explain why I felt compelled to make the video juxtaposing footage of recent newscasts with images of Gilbert’s work -
Whether you consider Mr. Gilbert a psychic or just a good physiologist, his connection with the human condition is undeniable.
Bellow are several images of Gilbert’s ( they are all snap shots of his current work in progress) with quotes from the interview.
The last image is a still from one of Gilbert’s 14 videos used in the project. The videos are a very important and interesting part of his massive installation. They deal with over protective behavior, taking the safety of the life raft and using it in absurd ways. Some videos have a sense of danger, so much so when I previewed them my first question to the artist was – Did you use a stunt double? The dare devil artist does all his own stunts.
*These are all images depicting works in progress, the text was added by me
** To view these images unadulterated by my personal touch visit the face-book fan page album
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