Thursday, March 3, 2011

NEWS: AV Resident introduces innovative spin-off of traditional art galleries

Local resident Eric Martin, along with four other writers and artists, began in mid-February, a gallery of text and art focused on the nature of consciousness. Particularly notable is the gallery’s innovative and strictly online collection of fiction, fine art and video.

Failure of Theory is a collection of works revolved around unanswered questions such as: “What exactly is the nature of consciousness? Where does it happen? How flexible is it?”

The idea for the show came from Martin’s experiences with a program called Xtranormal, as he explained it was interesting to him to consider the irony of a non-human giving a live performance on uniquely human issues.

Martin then approached fellow artists and writers Michael Jones, Adrienne Pike Adelphia, Jeremy Johnson and Diego Johnson to contribute their respective works on the topic. Thus, Failure of Theory was born.

“The idea of consciousness is so basic to our sense of self, but yet it’s so abstract. It’s the irony of [this idea] that anchors the project,” said Martin.

The project, according to the website, should be seen as a conversation.

“Consciousness is usually presented in a philosophical way, [but] this is more accessible,” Martin explained, adding that the project was as much fun as it was a form of expression.

He said the virtual format was chosen for its ease, as all the tools are available for free, and the animation for very cheap.

Because the project is fairly new, it has received minimal feedback. However, Martin said that many people liked the art and fiction, but many were “surprised and even a bit put off by the robot voices [of the animations].”

As far as the artists’ next step, Martin said that there are no official plans of any additions or projects to follow.

On a final note, Martin commented on the ambiguous and experimental nature of the project. Because of the theme, there were no real boundaries or set plans.

“We put it together to see what we could do,” said Martin.

Failure of Theory is a gallery that addresses familiar concepts met with a new spin of text, art and video seen as an entire interplay. The new idea is one that may grow in popularity, as the need for adaptation and growth is ever-present in all fields of art.

-By Natasha Castro