Cleveland Scene | Josh Usmani  |  November 12, 2014

SPACES Hosts Two Exhibitions That Bring Artist and Process Together

Just weeks after its most successful annual benefit ever, SPACES (2220 Superior Via.) moves onto hosting an opening reception for its latest exhibitions. From 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday Nov. 14, SPACES invites you to explore both Process by Irina Spicaka of Riga, Latvia and Automatic Ruins by Colin Lyons or Kamloops, British Columbia. Both artists use automatic processes to collaborate with their materials in the creation of their works.

Spicaka projects geometric animations onto three-dimensional surfaces. These audiovisual projections use sets of algorithms that react to each other to automatically self-generate in "predictable yet varied ways", according to SPACES exhibition statement. Process was created in collaboration with media technologist Krisjanis Rijnieks.

Spicaka is SPACES' 49th SWAP (SPACES World Artists Program) artist, and is brought to Cleveland through a residency with ArtsLink. ArtsLink offers five-week residencies at nonprofit arts organizations throughout the U.S. to artists and arts managers from nearly 40 countries.

"We're excited to present Irina's project to our Cleveland audience, especially because this is one of the very few examples of projection mapping and generative art ? in the digital form ? that has been available here," explains SPACES' Executive Director Christina Vassallo. "Irina uses computer code as a flexible material that, eventually, becomes its own partially autonomous creative mechanism."

Colin Lyons' upbringing in Petrolia, Ontario had an obvious, lasting effect on his work. Canada's "original oil boom town," Petrolia inspired Lyons' interest in industrial ruins ? a topic that may be of similar interest to natives of the Rust Belt. Lyons uses chemical processes derived from printmaking techniques to accelerate the aging process of time and erosion.

"We've been busy collecting construction rubble from around Cleveland so that Colin can incorporate remnants of this city into his new installation at SPACES," says Vassallo. "He'll use a chemical process to replicate the natural degradation of man-made structures."

Though their materials are quite different, Spicaka and Lyons complement each other's work. Lyons looks to our past - at both obsolescence and the things we choose to preserve. Spicaka's work is forward-thinking - fusing art and technology in a way that seems like a natural evolution of both. This balance of reflection and looking forward help contextualize each other in the present.

The exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public (but donations are gladly accepted).
Tags: Art, Arts, SPACES, Image

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