A Curatorial Perspective of Two Objects

Our exhibition, Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific, prompts a consideration of the material and immaterial vibrations that surround us. While our experience of the world is shaped by encounters with vibrations, the limitations of our anatomies make our observation of them finite and conditional. Our bodies are our first point of contact with the world, and the receivers of sensory input which shapes our most fundamental understanding. The works in this exhibition, including the two works chosen for this educational resource, reveal perceptions of vibrational energies beyond those we can glean with our limited sensory apparatus. Virginia Katz’ work enlists the wind as a body. WIND, On-Shore Flow, 7 Hours of Observation makes visible in a metallic “painting” the vast energies of a localized wind event. Steve Roden’s ear(th) translates data of the effects of the earth’s movement during an earthquake, into a score for a sound composition. Both works are revelatory, making visible or audible waves of energy that we cannot bodily perceive without the intervention of these artists.