During the first Friday of September 2017, Center’s Gerry Lenfest Gallery was filled with people, three-dimensional objects, sounds, materials, photos, videos, and many captivating concepts. The exhibition called allTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2017 was above and beyond expectations. This multi-disciplinary exhibition takes the viewer through the world of senses, including visual, auditory, and tactile. As soon as I stepped in, my receptor cells were affected by unusual sounds and fascinating objects which only then lead to perception of what was really going on.
AllTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2017 is dedicated to the collaborative work of eight international artists from all over the world: Max Brosi, Felicia Francine Dean, Daniel Fishkin, Anastasia Leto, Megan McGlynn, Jason Schneider, Samuel Lang Budin, and Elizabeth Kozlowski. In it’s 22nd year, the Center Windgate ITE program awarded eight fellowships to these talented artists who worked together for two months, exploring new directions in their work. This program encourages research, discussions, studio work, and experimentation. The outcome of this collaborative work, in my opinion, is closely interlinked with psychology. This photo essay encompasses the experience of the whole sensory system, including both physical sensation and deeper interpretation of the perceived information.
The ability for the viewers to interact with the artwork allows them to develop their own perception of art object. This includes not only visual experience. Daniel Fishkin, for example, used interactive sound installations to let people perceive unusual sounds on their own way. Some people found it disturbing whereas others found organic similarities with sounds from natural world. According to bowerbird.org, Fishkin also studied how his work affect people with hearing damages which also explains his interest in these sound installations. At the same time, Max Brosi in his Cyclops Form considered how visually-impaired people would experience the pieces, relying on the sense of touch. Some pieces, as for example, Jason Schneider’s Sphere included photo and video accompaniment. Female artists expressed themselves through the choice of interesting materials, including Tenants by Megan McGlynn made of plywood, acetate, gouache, and LED lights, and tremendous Ascent installation by Anastasia Leto made of ash, white oak, copper, and hemp twine. All of the presented art objects not only explored the beauty and character of collected materials in functional and sculptural forms, but also interacted with the audience in physical and intellectual ways.
“AllTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2017.” The Center of Art in Wood. Center’s Gerry Lenfest Gallery. 141 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. 2 Sep. 2017.
“Composing the Tinnitus Suites: 2016.” Bowerbird.org, www.bowerbird.org/newsite/events/tinnitussuites/.
The exhibit is very inclusive in terms of the artist’s choice to create art that is not only seen or heard but also able to be felt. This allows people with hearing or sight handicaps to enjoy the artwork as well. A lot of times art isn’t friendly to those that cannot see it or hear it (when thinking about music), and I think that this artist was successful in making the artworld accessible to ALL people. The use of different, unique materials is reflective of the different and unique people that come to experience the exhibit.
This exhibition uses all five sense which I think is very interesting. It brings back memories to when I was six at the time and I went to the Please Touch Museum. There where similar interactions with making sounds with the wooden pieces. I think that this exhibition made a lot of people feel connected and find their inner childhood, along with this people developed curiosity about the noses they heard and the things they saw. Overall I think that this exhibition would be very neat if accompany by friends or family. This had to be a successful accomplishment for the artist, to see their audience interacting with their artwork.