Evolving From and Devolving Towards Nothing

Evolving From and Devolving Towards Nothing 
Hannah Bertram

chashama 303 Gallery
303 10th Avenue
(between 27th and 28th)
New York, NY

March 13 - 30, 2013

Closing Reception:
Saturday, March 30, 4 - 6 p.m.

Gallery Hours: 
Tuesday - Saturday, 12 - 6 p.m.

Evolving From and Devolving Towards Nothing is an installation in which dust, ash, rain and snow are collected in New York and transformed into a decorative ephemeral installation.

Evolving From and Devolving Towards Nothing  is an example of my ongoing investigation into the passing of time, the transformation of worthless materials and the ambiguity of value, within a decorative ephemeral art practice. Throughout my work an alternative experience of preciousness is proposed in which value is found not in the perpetuity and richness of ornamented objects, but within the subtlety of transient experiences. It uses the complex position of Ornament - that simultaneously adds value and is functionally superfluous - to transform banal materials such as dust and rain within temporary installations. This transformation of every day phenomena which is often understood as ‘ordinary’, aims not to present an artificial preciousness but to offer an alternative experience that poetically transforms the mundane into the precious.

During the exhibition visitors can view the work in various states of constructions and decay by; watching Hannah creating the work form dust and rain in the fist week, viewing the installations deterioration, through accidental footsteps, curious fingers and possibly by insects or other unforeseen elements, and lastly by attending the closing nights performance and celebratory drinks.