I look closely at it…with Alan Strathmann

“We are investigating what it means to observe. And, how explorations of beauty, value, object-ness and transformation through our perceived perceptual and technological limits, can expose changes that take place internally.

Thousands of origami, some constructed of paper inform us of shifting cultural and empirical amalgamations. Focused radiation, scattered as a result of the presence of tiny particles of gold, is made visible to the naked eye through their suspension in a chemical solution. What do these experiences tell us about the qualities of both our un-aided and our technologically extended ways of seeing? The transformative events that occur in our lifetimes and beyond continue to allow us access to ourselves and to wonder at our world.

What trust do we put in the things that surround us? We assess that they are real, that they have weight, mass, volume and that they exist on relative scales of worth. We participate unconsciously, confronting materials, manipulations and natural phenomena. And through the witnessing of these things we determine the balance of our perceptions.

The framing of our intuitive associations with the very edge of our technical means gives us cause for self-reflection. When do we know things? What is built into our physiology and what is learned? We continue to achieve, to become new—to redefine ourselves through the advancement of our thoughts and technologies. We imagine, design, make, and we destroy—and we accumulate associations as we do memories: as flickering visions, while we continually move towards question after question. “

Student Artist:
Nick Voegele, Sinclair Community College

Youth Participants:
Charvon Knight, Clayton
Victoria Postway, Dayton
Alex Reynolds, Dayton
DeMarcus Sledge, Dayton
Melody Snyder, Kettering
Sarah Workman, Dayton