Looking Outwards 02

I visited a gallery that had an artwork by Ian Brill, a new media artist who specializes in computer-generated light installations. The installation featured a curved screen with colored pixels that moved and changed colors. The viewer would sit on a long bench and look at the screen, which was accompanied by a monotone background noise. While the viewer sat on the bench, most of their view would be filled with the screen and be enveloped in the color-changing visuals. What I admire about this artwork and his other exhibitions, is its ability to completely change the viewer’s perception of the space around them. While sitting in the gallery, while I knew where I was, the screen which I was looking at was capturing most of my awareness, changing the environment in my head.  I suppose that the algorithm has some form of a random function in it to continuously generate changing visuals, as well as a set palette of colors that the algorithm can choose from randomly to show. I think where Brill’s artistic sensibilities manifest are in his choice of color and size of the screen. I observed that for each exhibition, he uses a specific color palette to invoke different emotions and feelings of space from the viewer. At the same time, the size and number of screens control how much of the space is altered. While one singular screen only controls a small portion of the space, larger and more screens can possibly alter an entire room. 

2 people viewing Ian Brill’s artwork at the gallery