Jan.25-Feb. 26: Art looks at high-tech and kids
By Maegan Murray, WSU Tri-Cities
RICHLAND, Wash. – An exhibit showing the impact of technology on daily life through sculptures of children using various devices will run Monday, Jan. 25, through Feb. 26 in the Consolidated Information Center Art Center, Room 102, at Washington State University Tri-Cities.
A reception for “In the Cloud” by Joe Batt will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in the center.
Batt’s work wryly questions the pervasive role of digital media and devices in daily life, said Peter Christenson, WSU Tri-Cities assistant professor of fine arts and Art Center curator.
“There’s a lovely, but haunting, juxtaposition embedded in the ceramic figurines themselves – handmade clay dolls clenching a variety of electronics,” he said. “They are unique and approachable, yet eerily disconnected and impassive like the technology they embrace.”
In recent years, Batt said, he has observed himself and nearly everyone he knows interacting with technology devices at an escalating pace.
“Though it might be impossible to understand the impact of these real changes, this new body of work is my way of beginning to creatively process and, to a degree, question them,” he said. “I chose children as the main characters because I feel that the unknown impact of the digital age is effectively conveyed through them.”
Contacts:
Maegan Murray, WSU Tri-Cities public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu
Peter Christenson, WSU Tri-Cities Art Center curator, 509-372-7285, peter.christenson@wsu.edu
