Nature underfoot at Seton Gallery

Seton Art Gallery at the University of New Haven
Dodds Hall, University of New Haven, 300 Boston Post Rd., West Haven, (203) 931-6065
Constructed Ecology

The first thing I notice when entering the Seton Gallery to check out Constructed Ecology is the smell of grass (the lawn type). The floor is covered with sod and the gallery space is sectioned off, creating two cubicles. The juxtaposition of structure and a signifier of the natural environment—living grass—challenge visitors to contemplate our relationship to nature. The exhibit is the joint effort of summer artists-in-residence Michael Galvin and Kyle Skar with the multimedia interventions of Lisa Amadeo, Nicki Chavoya and Gary Velush.

While the grass is in one sense a signifier of nature it is also an archetypal example of the domestication of nature, the human urge to dominate and control nature. The sod is laid down in rectangular segments, like a living living room carpet. The visitor's experience as one walks through the gallery is symbolic of the human impact on nature—taking it for granted, trampling it underfoot.

According to gallery director Laura Marsh, the grass is watered twice a day. Still, much of it just clinging to life, brown and dispirited. But in corners and hugging the walls along the well-trod paths, green tangles endure.

Photo from the "Constructed Ecology" opening courtesy of Seton Gallery

The architectural structures function on two levels, serving both to break up the space into geometric pathways and to create rooms housing the multimedia responses of Amadeo, Chavoya and Velush. The first "room" I enter features the looping video piece "Digital Window" by Nicki Chavoya and Lisa Amadeo. The video is a succession of scenes overlaid with found sounds, bits of banal everyday conversation and static. The video, filmed throughout New England, features scenes of bucolic woods, views of suburbia, piles of freshly cut wood in a forest clearing, cats feeding at their bowls, big box retail stores. The accumulation of imagery suggests a deep undercurrent of alienation and even looming threat. The serenity of one suburban scene is belied by the fact that Amadeo and Chavoya have filmed a cul-de-sac, the dead end of the growth imperative. In another short clip—in what I have to believe was a highly fortuitous circumstance—they captured a big truck for "Global Environmental Services" turning a suburban corner like something out of a Don DeLillo novel. All is not well in paradise.

"Digital Window": Video by Lisa Amadeo and Nicki Chavoya

In the other cubicle, Gary Velush set up a sound installation incorporating readings of the work of James Joyce, natural and mechanical sounds, strange rumblings. This cubicle is more enclosed, claustrophobic. The plywood walls are painted black with the exception of numerous unpainted areas in which the wood grain looks like ghostly figures with the knots for eyes. Cut into the walls are six portals, which are painted gold. Within each portal, Michael Galvin has placed a couple of plaster casts of mushrooms daubed with gold paint. The environment references altered states, heightened sensory awareness, magic and the spiritual quality of nature.

Constructed Ecology, which is open through Oct. 26, prompts contemplation of our relationship to nature. In thinking about that I return to the sensory image at the start of this post, that of the smell of grass when I entered the gallery. Gallery director Laura Marsh sent me photos from the opening and one of the striking things is how green and fresh the ersatz lawn looked. In its decay, this aspect of the installation speaks volumes. We were given paradise and have put up a parking lot.

Opening tonight: "Constructed Ecology" at Seton Gallery at UNH

Seton Art Gallery at the University of New Haven
Doods Hall, University of New Haven, 300 Boston Post Rd., West Haven, (203) 931-6065
Constructed Ecology
Sept. 19—Oct. 26, 2013.
Reception: Thurs., Sept. 19, 5—9 p.m.

Press release from Seton Art Gallery

Constructed Ecology aims to enhance the viewer's spatial perception using light, sound, video and texture. When entering the gallery space, one is confronted with two luminescent cubes in a field of grass. These architectural vessels create tension between themselves and the triple L-shaped gallery. This spatial narrative is akin to the first day of spring, recalling the feeling of grass beneath one's feet as one takes in a deep breath of fresh air.

The exhibit will be on view through Oct. 26. An opening reception is scheduled for Thurs., Sept. 19, from 5—9 p.m.

This exhibition blurs the lines of the natural and the engineered. Subsequently, the notion of "viewing" space and "passage" through space is inhibited, forcing the viewer to slow down and interact with the work. The installation encourages one to challenge their perception of curated and regulated spaces from that of nature and the wilderness.

Seton has become more experiential as two artists, Michael Galvin and Kyle Skar, work for one month as artists-in-residence. They have customized the gallery and used it as an incubator for a large-scale project. This discovery aims to challenge the traditional views of exhibition space through an interaction with the existing architectural space. Galvin and Skar have invited two local video collaborators Lisa Amadeo and Nicki Chavoya to develop and project video content within one of the architectural vessels. Gary Velush will customize an auditory piece in the second space. Within this interdisciplinary exhibition, a variety of sensory experiences will be produced.

Constructed Ecology raises questions and draws awareness to the built environment, encouraging viewers to seek out natural spaces. This interdisciplinary project combines architecture, sculpture, digital media and natural forms resulting in conversations about manufactured experiences and the air we breathe. This discourse is relevant to the development of the Seton Gallery as a cultural center for both the University and the New Haven community.