I Am Not A Robot: Making The Digital World Real
Bryan Allen, Jonathan Odom, Tom Scarpino
July 7-August 26, 2018
The Compound Gallery is pleased to present “I am Not A Robot” and art exhibition that explores the connection between the digital and physical world. I am Not a Robot features work by artists Bryan Allen, Tom Scarpino and Jonathan Odom.
The 21st century American inhabits the digital world of television, smartphones and computers for both work and play. Artists also create, sketch, and design in the digital realm where much of the work struggles to make an appearance in the physical world our bodies inhabit. When is something real? Must we able to touch it? “I Am Not A Robot” explores the way in which three artists bridge that gap to produce works of art in the digital world that are able to exist in a physical gallery setting.
Bryan Allen explores mark making in the digital realm and how it translate to the analog, physical world. Using virtual reality (VR) and 3D modeling, Allen creates sculptures and paintings that exist entirely in a digital world. Allen’s digital gestures are then 3D printed and hand sculpted to bring them to the physical space. Allen’s final pieces capture his swift human gestures through the physical space—an experience made possible by the use of VR and 3D printing “robots’ which help produce his work.
Tom Scarpino brings the mundane computer using experience to paper using the antiquated medium of hand set letterpress type. Web pages such as “Click Here to Refresh Page” are meticulously reproduced by hand using antique wood and metal letterpress type and then printed on a 90+ year old printing press. Scarpino’s work grants the viewer an opportunity to experience these commonplace digital messages in a contradistinctive environment.
Jonathan Odom creates mechanical, interactive sculptures that gravitate toward the absurd. Odom digitally designs his works and utilizes 3D printers, CNC routers, and other contemporary tools to bring his ideas into existence. Reminiscent of old-fashioned machines from the dawn of mechanization, Johnathan’s contraptions amuse and delight the viewer in a interactive, playful, and profound way.
