ARTISTs

Twenty Artists 

Completed

August 28, 2015 

SiTe

TechArtista 

The curated exhibition, Surface-in-Tension, was opened in August 2015 to the St. Louis community. Led by the creativity of curator Mariana Parisca, twenty artists were showcased and original, thought-provoking essays published in a guide. Viewers were taken through a variety of art experiences that re-examine the separation of art, life and work. What are traditionally seen as opposing forces were instead viewed through a lens of fluidity; where interdisciplinary tension brings about creative potential and innovation. 

Postmodern times are characterized by the blurring of disciplinary boundaries. Aspects of life and work historically have been compartmentalized in order to specialize and optimize progress. As a result divisions and dichotomies permeate all aspects of our existence. Mind/Body, Physical/Spiritual, Art/Life, Work/Play, Public/Private are only a few examples. Today however, a new generation of creative individuals is working to foster movement, fluidity.

At TechArtista, members of diverse disciplines share work spaces and collaborate on projects that find meaningful content and a creative tension at the spaces in between established disciplines. Here members move fluidly between work and play. In the process they innovate new formats for business, learning, and living that adapt to our changing social landscape.   

This exhibition seeks to further incorporate contemporary artist perspectives and ways of creating into this conversation. We abandon the notion of a gallery as a space separate from life and work. Instead TechArtista becomes a space where life, work, and art influence each other, creating an undefinable community of innovators.  Temporary installations inhabit TechArtista spaces and promote new ways of seeing and interacting. Ideas brought up by other art pieces persist in the minds of members as they develop new designs. Art and entrepreneurship bring their own perspectives and approaches on the process of creation. By bringing them together into a shared space, the potential for expansion and adaptability grows.   

The art-works presented hold creative tension by pushing and pulling on boundaries both in their content and in the way they are presented. Installations question the location of the art. Definable objects in the installation tend to locate the art in the physicality of the object. Yet as viewers walk through and interact with installations, their presence pulls the location of the art to their bodies. The art is neither in the object nor the body. The art is held up hovering and constantly changing in the space inbetween.

Other wall works present this creative tension within their content. Their subject-matter is diverse like the members at TechArtista yet they share a similar tendency to hover and create between seemingly opposing notions.