_ture

Meghan Moe Beitiks, a visual studies and foundations professor at Grand Valley State University and her colleagues, Marissa Benedict, Liz Ensz and Lindsey French, presented four stations of performance art varying in complexities of sites, systems, ecologies, communication, matter and relevant social histories. Their work was put on display this past week at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

5-minute excerpt from a 60-minute high-definition video (16:9; 1080p24). Documentation of a live video conference between one Eucalyptus in the Oakland hills and another in Sydney, Australia. This gesture aimed to open up a space in which a ‘conversation’ could occur between two Eucalypti - one a ‘native’ species and the other an ‘invasive’ one - in just the kind of distance-erasing technological environment that has accelerated similar global flows of people and plants.

“We are continuously navigating through various time/space realms — is it necessary to distinguish between time and space, I wonder? — it is non-stop, even when time seems to stand still.  Layered is too simple a term to describe it; and so is non-linear as it affirms the consistency of Euclidean geometry.  We could try hyperconnected or rhizomatic.  The point is that once you start that journey — and I believe we have always been in it, could that be possible? — there is no way of tracing your way back, because there is no back or forward, but movement in all directions: infinite angles, in, out, around, micro, macro — yes, like Alice!  I am talking about navigating that space where so many things, including data, thoughts, feelings, and experiences may at points amass, connect, repel, collide and collapse. There is your “scattered awareness.” I am glad that it implies some awareness, so there must be a glimpse of hope.”

Letter from a Mother: I have never been in Europe . I was born in Minneapolis and I am the mother of three children, all gifted, two exhibiting in this exhibition. I have always felt nervous about artists, but in my modest way I am a believer in democracy. Therefor e as a woman who has done her duty towards the race and experienced life, I make the plea to all other mothers and women of constructive comprehension, that we keep this exhibition sane and beautiful. It is only by elevating the soul and keeping the eyes of our young ones filled with lovely images that we can expect good results from the generation that will follow. People without refinement, cubists, futurists, are not artists. For Art is noble. And they are distorted. Independence is needed, but a line must be drawn somewhere. In sincere faith I hope for your success. Sincerely, A MOTHER.