The second of the List Visual Arts Center's two-part "Sensorium" exhibition, which explores ways in which contemporary artists address the influence of technology on the senses, will open with a panel discussion featuring several of the artists and curators today at 6 p.m. in Bartos Theater (E15).
Part II of "Sensorium: Embodied Experience, Technology and Contemporary Art" again features an international group of artists whose works create what the Boston Phoenix calls a "full-body experience."
"Sensorium: Part II" continues with an environment by French artist Mathieu Briand that is based on the film "2001: A Space Odyssey," incorporating helmets that allow visitors to see through the eyes of others and see the Earth from a space station. Briand's work was on view for Part I of "Sensorium" and serves as an introduction to the subsequent works in Part II.
Natascha Sadr-Haghighian's "Singing Microscope" (2006) features an old-fashioned microscope that turns viewers into listeners as the sense of sight is replaced by sound, just for fun.
The exhibition also includes Anri Sala's two-minute video,"Natural Mystic," which reflects on switches between sensory modalities as a lone musician vocalizes the ominous yowl of a tomahawk missile as it gets louder and louder, goes silent and suddenly explodes; François Roche's "MITea," a proposal for the construction of an inflatable tea room which would employ purified rainwater and residue from MIT's waste-water system; and "Let's Get Physical/Digital" (1997), Christian Jankowski's appropriated chat room conversations with his girlfriend reconfigured as a theatrical performance with live actors.
The show is curated by Arning, List Center Director Jane Farver, Yuko Hasegawa and Marjory Jacobson.
A series of gallery talks with artists and curators will be held, beginning with a tour led by Jacobson on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. For a full schedule, see the List Center's web site at web.mit.edu/lvac/.
In conjunction with the show, the MIT Press has published a comprehensive catalogue.
Also opening at the List Center Galleries on Feb. 8 is "Nabila Irshaid: Flying Carpet," an interactive installation and a video project that address Irshaid's Palestinian heritage. Visitors to the exhibit will be able to communicate with visitors at the Bethlehem Peace Center and Art School at the West Bank through the use of web cams and chat postings. The goal of the project is to create a sense of mutual understanding among people of different cultural and geographic backgrounds. Irshaid will lead a gallery talk on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m.
Both shows will be on view in the List Center's galleries through April 8.
