Feb 28, 2008

Looming threats spark art

'Sky is Falling' exhibit examines world in constant disaster preparedness mode

By Sharon Brock / Special to the Daily News

In these times of war and uncertainty, there is a looming current of fear that pervades the American psyche. Disaster can strike at any moment in the form of disease, natural catastrophe or terrorist attack.

In "The Sky is Falling," the latest exhibit at Spur Projects in Portola Valley, more than a dozen artists illustrate their personal definition of disaster with paintings, photography, sculpture and installation art.

Texan artist William Betts plays with the ideas of suspicion and paranoia of potential disaster with his pointillist paintings derived from surveillance camera footage. Betts illustrates scenes that would otherwise be innocuous, but seen through the lens of a surveillance camera, viewers may become suspicious.

"I'm interested in how we see things and how we look at things. I'm especially interested in how various technologies mediate and modify what we see. I'm fascinated by these images because they are terrifying, while also really quite benign," Betts said. "But, after months of studying these images, I have to ask: 'Is surveillance really a deterrent?' What are we giving up for its benefits? There are costs to these things and sometimes we don't really ask the questions until it's too late."

San Francisco artist Melissa Hutton takes a more personal approach to disaster, illustrating the fear of home invasion while being home alone. Her images also convey a sense of power to protect oneself. Using a scroll saw to cut out puzzle-piece shapes, then layering bold-colored epoxy resins for a glossy and vibrant finish, Hutton purposely creates these self-portraits without a defined face, enabling viewers to place themselves into the situation.

"These new pieces are all interior, revealing both the interior of my house and my personal interior. How I feel inside about what's going on outside," Hutton said.

The three pieces in the show tell a story, one in which the subject is either in bed or in the bath tub with a gun in hand, ready at a moment's notice to confront any danger outside the front door.

"I do have a certain fear that something will happen to me, but I deal with this fear by being strong, knowing that I can protect myself," Hutton said. "With the bath tub piece, the tub is typically a place where you relax - but here, it's very cold and I'm naked and vulnerable, held up in this cocoon, waiting for something to happen. But, I'm prepared. I have a gun in my hand, my ammunition, everything I need, just in case. These pieces are mainly about strength."

Jeremiah Jenkins brings some humor to the mix with his 5-foot-tall, rotating bomb-shaped disco ball, titled "Mirror Bomb." Originally from Tennessee, Jenkins' sculptures illustrate cultural contradictions and often meld the boundaries of opposing ideas.

This 60-pound sculpture is comprised of foam and 10,000 square-inch mirrors, each glued on by hand. When a light is directed onto the sculpture, thousands of tiny white lights "explode" across the wall, illustrating the two opposing ideas of a romantic high school prom and the devastating explosion of a bomb.

With this piece, Jenkins also makes a parallel between the self-destructive qualities of the mirror bomb and the self-destructive qualities of war.

"Since the bomb is covered with mirrors, you're seeing a fragmented reflection of your surroundings and a distorted image of yourself, so the material of the bomb itself creates its own destruction," says Jenkins. "It's the same with war. I see war as a self-destructive thing. From the start, it's made up of things that will lead to its own demise because both sides are killing each other."

A product of multiple generations raised in times of war, Jenkins believes there is a growing number of people worldwide, who are not only against the war in Iraq but against the philosophical existence of war altogether.

"I think there is a shift on earth right now. There are so many things happening that are making us aware of each other in a new way," he says. "I think the idea of disaster provides a defined reason for us to come together, a way for us to start over and try things differently."