Brian over at The Buzz sent this press release along: it’s for a new art show opening in Old Town, called ?Exoskeleton?
Although the ee cummings style punctuation is pretty telling, the artists statement is more complete:
ARTIST STATEMENT:
“Exoskeleton”
“My fifth grade science teacher first introduced me to the term. In her words, “Exoskeletons are used in nature to protect the animals’ soft insides! If you step on an animal and it goes ‘crunch then squish’ then it has an exoskeleton and if it goes ‘squish then crunch’ then it has an endoskeleton.” I’ve always appreciated this idea – of protection from the elements through a physical barrier or presence. I quickly developed exoskeleton envy – realizing if I were squished, I would make the sound “squish, crunch” in that order and not the other way around. The vulnerability of humans became a very interesting concept to me at a very young age.
Animals, specifically insects of all kinds, have naturally evolved to develop a hard skin for the sole purpose of physical protection and, ultimately, survival. People, on the other hand, have evolved to synthetically create these physical structures, often times at the expense of nature. We do this to help ourselves deal with varied situations: to self-preserve, to demonstrate wealth, to denote stylistic taste, to designate ownership of space, to warn of potential danger, to psychologically comfort. These artificial exterior skeletons aesthetically say a lot about individuals, societies, cultures and us as a mere grouping of animals.
This series of work discusses the aesthetic appeal of the exoskeleton – whether naturally found or artificially derived – and the delicate dialogue nature and industry strike with one another in order to find the balance between our exos and endos.
I created this work as a valiant effort to find my own personal Exoskeleton.”
The 411:
Anka Gallery
325 NW 6th Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97209
info@ankagallery.com
www.PDXArtScene.org
Happy First Thursday, everyone! I hope you catch this before you run out of the office!
