Slow Pan Interior

January 11, 2008 - February 23, 2008

Southern Exposure (SoEx) presents four concurrent solo exhibitions and public projects by four Bay Area based artists: Chris Bell, Elaine Buckholtz, Bruce Tomb, and Jenifer Wofford.

Australian native Chris Bell presents Slow Pan Interior, a video installation that seamlessly projects the gallery back onto itself or so one would think. The subtle shifting of the projected image turns the viewer’s consciousness back to the gallery thus providing a newfound consideration of the space.

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essay about Chris Bell
by Emily Sevier 

Chris Bell creates dramatic installations that resonate with an austere, industrial beauty. They often consist of one or two neatly crafted objects standing or suspended alone in a dimly lit environment. Few extraneous distractions enter the space, except those that have been harnessed by the artist to aid in the experience of the work, whether sunlight, electricity, or sound. Every element is intentional.

Using the simplicity of his presentation as a tool, Bell directs the viewer to focus on the objects and their psychological presence in space, transforming the installation into a sort of modern-era Zen garden—environments for reflection and contemplation. The effect would not necessarily be described as peaceful, however. The works charge the atmosphere with an uneasy energy, making the viewer hyper-aware of the moment and the space in which he or she stands. By attuning the senses, Bell enables the viewer to acknowledge a physical and emotional role in the dialogue between the objects in the installation and the room they occupy.

Bell’s materials of choice range from industrial materials and consumer electronics to simple items such as butter, water and glass. The deliberate reverence with which Bell treats each element in his installation enables the viewer to reflect on the essential nature of the objects presented. Common, often-overlooked forms become infused with a new depth of meaning. Electronic equipment—frequently used to blast the senses with information—is void of messaging. Sounds and images are presented simply as sounds and images. Stripped of any tools of persuasion, the works provide a moment of reprieve for the senses and can be appreciated in and of themselves.

Electricity is a recurring element in Bell’s installations. The artist sees the scientific manipulation of energy as one of the defining developments of the modern era. He is compelled to decipher electricity’s functionality and aesthetics, conducting an almost spiritual analysis. In his artist’s statement Bell wonders if it is possible for electricity to “be emptied of its speed and menace to facilitate contemplation,” despite its “overwhelming application for distraction.” In his work, the artist makes this invisible force visible through the use of motion and light, distilling it to reveal its elemental beauty.

For his installation at Southern Exposure, Bell presents motion and light in the form of the projected image. A rotating platform holding a video projector is mounted at the center of the front gallery. As the projector slowly spins, the walls of the gallery are covered with a seemingly panoramic image. Although not initially recognizable, this image is that of the gallery itself. The projection aligns with its original source—the video image of the door is projected onto the physical door, the wall socket is projected onto the wall socket. Over the course of the exhibition, as the projector continues to spin, the registration of the original wall and the projected image slips, producing an effect similar to that of the misalignment of printed images occasionally found in newspapers and magazines.

In his presentation at Southern Exposure, Bell gives the gallery an artificial layer of reality. The subtle skewing of the projected image and its original source provides a slight confusion for the senses, giving the space a new energy. The viewer’s consciousness turns back to the gallery, which becomes an active enclosure rather than an empty space to be filled.