November 3 – 26, 2016
First Friday Reception: Friday, November 4th from 6-9 pm
Kari Brinck and Kimberlee Koym-Murteira explore the moments captured on screen that coalesce and crystallize to encapsulate our experiences. Both artists augment the reality and meaning of these on-screen images and experiences by connecting them to the physical world of the here and now in their art practice, albeit using differing materials and methods.
Kimberlee Koym-Murteira peruses social media and other internet sources collecting snippets of life posted online. Selecting video clips of people that have touched or moved her in some way, she isolates them, prolonging the connection by replaying these little bits on the very small screen, looping over and over in a holding pattern, one that essentially crystallizes the energy and existence of their subject at a specific point in time. These vicarious moments of experienced relationship are further actualized by Koym-Murteira’s practice of containing them in real-world objects, objects which generate visceral body-level experiences and in turn suggest new methods for reconfiguring and memorializing the experiences. Encapsulated in bottles, bags or connected to other objects, possibly bubbling with water, the onscreen imagery becomes precious, a conduit connecting the virtual world of mind and the interior world of emotion with a concrete real-time presence; well worth experiencing.
Kari Brinck’s ongoing investigation of cyberspace interactions centers around the moments in which meaningful internet exchanges disintegrate and image-freeze, crystallizing the experience in that frozen moment. Brinck extends the experience and meaning of these random frozen instances by translating them onto canvas thereby memorializing the on-screen exchange and preserving the cyber-connection in a very real form. Titled with the exact time and real world locations of the frozen connections, these paintings hold their own, projecting their own presence in time, well beyond the transient glitches they capture.
The GearBox is open Thursdays and Fridays from 12 to 6 pm and Saturdays from 11 am to 5 pm. GearBox Gallery is also open 6-9 pm the First Friday of every month as part of the Oakland Art Murmur Art Walk.