Morgan Barnard
On View December 2023 – February 2024
The Window Box at vladem contemporary
Morgan Barnard
American, b. 1973
Reflection Point
2023
Mylar, projected light, live feed of weather data, iris mechanism
Courtesy of the Artist.
Morgan Barnard’s practice explores the intersection of data, sound, and light to initiate meditative states, explore the nature of perception, and raise awareness about humanity’s interconnectedness with nature. Operating primarily in public spaces, Barnard’s installations create sensory experiences that promote a slower way of seeing and being.
Reflection Point is an invitation to slow down and consider one’s place in the world and the environment. A local weather station mounted atop the Vladem Contemporary’s roof takes in real time weather and light level information from the immediate surroundings. Since the data from the weather station is malleable, Barnard has mapped these dynamic conditions to create generative animations with light. The result is an ever-changing display that makes the unseen forces of nature visible and tangible.
As viewers move around the Window Box, light shifts and changes, interacting with the limited human optical systems, offering unique perspectives of the work. Embracing a meta-modern worldview that is inclusive of multiple perspectives, Reflection Point speaks simultaneously to a merging of visual language, interactivity, hard data. No two views of the work are the same, engendering wonder and inquiry to the limits of human perspective.
You can see more of Morgan Barnard’s work on his website:
Video by Kaela Waldstein, Mountain Mover Media.
Dec. 21 @ 5PM | Encountering the Unseen: Morgan Barnard Solstice Event in Collaboration with Sci Art Santa Fe
In “Encountering the Unseen,” presented by Sci Art Santa Fe, join a LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) conversation between Morgan Barnard and Mira Barack that delves into the uncharted territories of consciousness, perception, and our relationship to the environment through art. The artists will discuss their immersive installations – Reflection Point by Morgan Barnard and Sacred Bouquet by Mira Burack – and have a conversation about the process of creating these site-responsive, sensorial projects. On the eve of the solstice, the mechanical aperture within Barnard’s temporary light art piece on display in the Window Box gallery at the Vladem Contemporary will be open for the longest duration during the installation. This in person LASER event, organized in collaboration with Leonardo/ISAST and Sci Art Santa Fe, connects scholars, artists, scientists, and thinkers for thought-provoking discussions on interdisciplinary work. Learn more at www.SciArtSantaFe.org and www.leonardo.info/isast/laser.html.
Event Details
The inaugural year of the Window Box Project is a collaboration with the Santa Fe-based collective Vital Spaces, an incubator for the city’s undiscovered emerging artists. For more information on Vital Spaces and the artist they represent, see their website: https://www.vitalspaces.org