‘Dissipative Structures’ exhibit in Blackbridge

Blackbridge Gallery presented a new exhibit Sept. 27 by Mercer University’s professor of digital imaging Craig Coleman. Science meets art in Coleman’s Dissipative Structures and incorporates both photography and technology in order to help the viewer focus on something other than a simple flat image.

“All of this has to do with looking at what is actually happening in front of you versus just an image in front of you,” Coleman said.

The title of Coleman’s exhibit comes from a paragraph in a book entitled “Mapping the Next Millennium,” which includes the history of mapping and what human beings have actually been able to map over the years, including the known universe.

Hilary Thompson | gcsunade.com

Mercer University professor Craig Coleman discusses his exhibition “Dissipative Structures” currently on display in Blackbridge Hall.

Coleman’s exhibit is both auditory and visual—digital spacey-sounding music plays while electronics whir and lights flash on and off. A constellation-type display of circular photographs fused to wood bedecks one wall, while in the middle of the room pieces of plastic foam float and twirl together in a tank with shallow water.

Both of these displays deal with the idea of infinity—the photographs of the constellation piece all focus on the sky, which is an infinite view. Cameras focus on the floating pieces of plastic foam and are in turn projected on a monitor. One camera focuses on the monitor, which creates an infinite view of endless monitors displaying the ever-changing scene going on in the tank.

Coleman’s use of technology reaches an all-time high in the piece “Meta Vision (Revisited)” in which tiny images are produced by fiber optic cables. The images are transferred directly by the cables from actual objects and are then projected in one-inch square frames. Coleman’s piece “Order in the Mist of Chaos” also incorporates squares.

The images were taken by Coleman’s cell phone, and reproduced to be the exact size of a typical cell phone screen. The photographs depict everyday life, but are mounted on the wall in an unconventional way; their placement mirrors that of a player piano roll. Each image takes the place of where a note would be on the music roll.

“This is a reference to music in daily life. We’re always thinking about music, it’s always around us,” Coleman said.

The theme of everyday life continues in Coleman’s piece, four photographs taken of mold-covered newspapers in Coleman’s driveway. The photographs are of certain advertisements in the newspapers and show mold growing and consuming the images, much in the same way people consume advertisements.

“It’s kind of a pun to me that this mold is consuming the images just like we do,” Coleman said.

Students, such as junior art major Katie Graham, were able to appreciate Coleman’s wide array of photographic imagery.

“It had a wide range of media and ideas, and it made you think about what other media is out there,” Graham said.

Still others, such as senior art major Sara Wood, were able to appreciate the scientific and philosophical aspects of Coleman’s pieces.

“It was intellectually invigorating,” Wood said.

Coleman’s exhibit will remain in Blackbridge Hall until Oct. 22 and can be viewed 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Posted by Hilary Thompson on Oct 8 2010. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.