Exhibition Review

I attended The Capacitators at the Holland Project on December 16th. The show feature many projects submitted by UNR students. One piece I found particularly interesting was by Luke Sorensen, called Legends of Broadcast. Viewers could interact with the piece by shining a flashlight on framed head shots of political talk show hosts. Using a live webcam and an algorithm created using software, a light pointed at a specific frame will cue that host to talk. The purpose of the project turns the tables on the relationship between the audience and the talk show host. Another visually stunning project was Pixels by Gabe Herz. In a dark room, 8 illuminated pixelated portraits hung from the ceiling. The photos were really gorgeous and drew a lot of attention. However, I felt that the concept that was explained in the artist's statement was underwhelming and could have delved deeper. Displace, a piece by Denver Rosario, was completely lost on me. I was confused whether it was supposed to be interactive or not. People standing around me at the show seemed equally as puzzled. I read the statement to try to make so sense of it, but I was left thinking, "So what? Why is this interesting?" Either I didn't "get it" or there was nothing to "get". These were just a few examples of the projects that were displayed. I had never been to a show like this before, but I really enjoyed it! I think the viewer interaction was a nice depature from more traditional art shows.