EXAMPLE OF CURATORIAL STATEMENT

Fahrenheit 451

San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery

September 12 - October 25, 1997

Fahrenheit 451 “…a book, in its purest form, is a phenomenon of space and time and dimensionality...” Dick Higgins Traditionally, the book is a container for knowledge – fiction or factual information or theoretic ideas conveyed through text and images. The essence of a book, however, is a very human experience: a relationship between the communicator and the audience using the book/object as a catalyst. A book is a sequential experience; we view the current page in the present moment, while previous pages rest like transparent images in our memories. It is only in reflecting on the entire work in retrospect that we view the work as a whole entity. Consequently, the book is a very time-based form of communication that by its very nature is also a tactile experience, creating an intimate experience between the object and the viewer. The objects and installations in Fahrenheit 451 deal with the disintegration and re-fabrication of both visual and verbal languages. The essence and beauty of language is that we can use words and images to create layers of transparent meanings, both to clarify ideas and to reach abstract depths of meaning that evoke a visceral response. In this way, visual language can trigger an intuitive response in the same way that odors or music have the ability to stimulate subconscious sensations for which we have no words. The artists in Fahrenheit 451 use the book format as an intimate container of the self, creating a personal narrative or a sense of the body, using skin-like transparencies and human forms to convey a very tactile sensibility. These books relate to the fragile and vulnerable structures which we are wrapped in: skin, hair, bone. Physically, these books explore the translucent areas of communication between the interior self and the exterior world. Our existence, how we assimilate ideas and disseminate information, and our personal interactions, have been drastically changed by the modern age. It is virtually impossible to maneuver through our world without being influenced by the electronic infrastructure that we have created. We now communicate through machines more often than we do face to face. The artwork in Fahrenheit 451 investigates the modern age from a distinctly human perspective. Many of the artists use electronic tools to represent very human experiences. They have chosen formats that investigate the role of language, the isolation of words or symbols and their potential to create multi-layered meanings. They have created statements on how humans have used technology against humans, and on how we survive in spite of an increasingly fragmented society. Cheryl Coon, Curator