We like to keep you on your toes, Portland. Instead of what you may be used to at SPACE, the opening of the exhibit Sound And Vision: Circuit, Tube, and Prism landed on the second Friday of January instead of the first – you know, the time when everybody is out wandering the streets to get their monthly fill of art? Well the change didn’t seem to throw anybody off, because the gallery was filled with people who came out to be the first to see this very unique exhibit: one curated by Gideon Bok and featuring the sound work of Galen Richmond (check out the Bollard article on him here!) and Kevin McMahon alongside the paintings of Bryson Brodie, Matt Phillips, and Stephanie Pierce.
From the large-scale painted renderings of prisms refracting light to the interactive drones and beats around the room, this exhibit is a true sensory overload. Visitors stomp with enthusiasm on Galen’s astroturf, experimenting to create different sounds and to figure out just how to control the alien tones – as demonstrated so skillfully by the creator himself. At the same time, others move in front of McMahon’s pile of wired instruments on the other side of the room to shape the loops and humming drones that shake it.
Sound and Vision: Circuit, Tube, and Prism is on display through Saturday, February 21. Come give the interactive pieces a try and see the paintings for yourself (pictures on a small screen certainly wouldn’t do them justice). The gallery is open Wednesday – Friday, 12-6pm.
Kris Johnsen has more photos from the opening reception up at the Emblem Studio blog.
