SE exhibit uses light manipulation as art expression

Two local artists have joined for SE Campus’ art installation Falloff in the Art Corridor II Gallery, which includes videos, fixtures and projections of light manipulation with a new concept of art and meaning.

Fine arts adjunct and artist Timothy Harding and Fort Worth artist Kris Pierce are members of an artist group based in Fort Worth called Homecoming Committee. For Falloff, the two have included eight pieces for TCC.

“I think that showing at TCC is a great opportunity to show work to people who do not make it to traditional galleries,” Pierce said. “Also, I like the idea of the work intervening in people’s normal day. They’re on their way to class or here or there and essentially walk into the exhibition space and this strange environment we have created.”

Pierce’s works include three video projections, two of which are projected on a hexagonal canvas, and two multiple channel videos. The work comes from the idea that loops or repetition can change one’s perception over time, he said.

“I would say that we live in a call-to-action age where information is being repeatedly thrown at us,” Pierce said. “In that environment, the associations we make with things evolve. For instance, a song becomes associated with a product when used in advertising, especially if that advertising is in your face all the time. The work attempts to use repetition in imagery, color, sound and typography in the hope of moving past one initial response and associations towards new meaning.”

Harding has three light installations composed of fluorescent lighting fixtures and tubes wrapped in colored gels.

Originally, the works were focused on how light is created by fixtures and how light interacts with its setting, he said. But because of the SE gallery’s lighting, Harding said he had to change the concept to fixtures as found lines, line drawings that exist in a 3-D space. He said the pieces attempt to find a balance between confusion and order, and he hopes the way the installations are set up will have viewers guessing at what the piece might actually be.

Pierce said he thinks students will enjoy the exhibit because the art media used are different than what many have seen before.

“Hopefully, the exhibition will open their eyes to see the potential of where art can exist and how it can be made,” he said. “Also, our works are pretty bright and colorful. Who doesn’t like that?”

Falloff is on display until Dec. 15. For more information, contact curator Christopher Blay at 817-515-3406 or christopher.blay@tccd.edu.