A glimpse into the future of artistic preservation
The Weisman’s new exhibit, “A Message from our Planet,” shows that the possibilities are endless in a limitless world.
By Ava Rausch with art by Zoe Meyer
“Message from our planet,” a traveling art exhibit arranged by the Thoma Foundation that encourages viewers to think beyond the dimensions of this world, has finally made its way to the Weisman Museum. The exhibit proposes that art may be communicated beyond traditional means and can be preserved through computer code. Software, video and light-technology are used to encapsulate artifacts and ambitions of contemporary society, like messages being displayed through the lens of a cell phone.
Artwork is displayed in a less traditional means of simply plastering the painting on the wall, this is more interactive. Moving pieces on a digital canvas catch the attention of the onlooker, allowing them to see all of the different elements come together in real time.
It goes beyond the limits of contemporary society, choosing to emphasize the western world, which has notably shifted to conforming with a digital algorithm that dictates communication across platforms. Choosing to hone in on using computer code to display the pieces allows the audience to think beyond modern communication efforts, allowing technology to be the epicenter of what we will come to understand in the future.
According to the exhibition curator, Jason Foumberg, “Message from our Planet” was inspired by a spacecraft containing a record of human culture launched into outer space by NASA in 1977. “I wanted this group exhibition to evoke a similar multivocal message by artists who share a human desire to be understood across time and space.”
It’s nothing like contemporary works you would find at the Walker, abstract works of spiral designs fill the room until your mind seems to wander off to a different universe, but that’s what makes it unique. Give it a try, support the inspirational international artists that work hard to breach the limits of contemporary art!