THE FRANKLIN presents SATELLITES, a one-night event co-curated by Steven L. Bridges and Third Object, to take place on May 23, 2015, from 6 – 10pm. The event celebrates two recent exhibitions in Chicago dealing with the cultural import of the cosmos: Cosmosis, at the Hyde Park Art Center, and Were the Eye Not Sunlike, at Fernwey Gallery and on ACRE TV. Further extending the reach of these two distinct yet interrelated exhibitions, a program of performances by artists such as Sarah and Joseph Belknap, Dana Carter, Rachel Foster, Nicholas Sagan and Erin Washington will take place throughout the evening, as well as an ACRE TV watching party featuring work from the Were the Eye Not Sunlike video program.

With a shared interest in how the cosmos and the scientific fields of physics and cosmology continue to inspire artistic production, Bridges and Third Object join forces to create SATELLITES. Drawing from the artists included in both exhibitions, as well as introducing new artists into the fold, the evening’s itinerary will be marked by different artistic strategies exploring how the cosmos, and its many celestial bodies, act as a screen onto which are projected the many desires, fears, and wonders of humanity. For example, artist Erin Washington will launch a new version of her work, A [person] can’t just sit around (2014), in which a lawn chair will be launched into the sky attached to helium balloons. Taking inspiration from the now infamous story of “Lawn Chair Larry, ” who took flight in the early 1980s using similar materials, the artist comments on the human desire to take flight through this humorous gesture.

Other artistic offerings include a presentation of Rachel Foster’s Outposts, Satellites, and Orphan Planets (2012), which the artist describes “as a library of information all relating to the topic of transmission.” Noting the overlap of a number of artists between the two exhibitions listed above, the curators will stream a series of video works exhibited on the ACRE TV tele-vision network as part of Were the Eye Not Sunlike. The video exhibition explores the ways that the experience of the sun is dominated by metaphor and myth. Videos from all three sections of the program—Sunrise, High Noon, and Sunset—will air throughout the night in THE LIVING ROOM and on THE FLAT SCREEN. Rounding out the evening, intergalactic musical offerings, Tang-spiked mixed drinks, and astronaut ice cream will be served to visitors.

VIDEO PROGRAM
Blair Bogin
John Szczepaniak
Pablo Marin
Laura Mackin
Tommy Becker

Cassandra C. Jones
Eeva Siivonen
Robert Todd
Eden Mitsenmacher
Eileen Rae Walsh
Andrew Rosinski
Dana Carter

+ACRE TV Stream of Were the Eye Not Sunlike

•••

Steven L. Bridges is Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Most recently he curated a solo exhibition of the work of Chicago-based artist Jason Lazarus at the MCA, which traveled to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Upcoming at the MCA, he is organizing a solo exhibition of the work of Faheem Majeed, and assisting the major retrospective exhibition of the work of renowned sculptor Doris Salcedo. Bridges is also co-curator of the annual Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival in Chicago, and in 2012 co-curated the MFA thesis exhibition at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His writings have been published in numerous journals, including Art & the Public Sphere, the Live Arts Almanac, Dispatch, and Art & Education Papers.

Third Object is a curatorial collective based in Chicago comprised of Ann Meisinger, Raven Munsell, Elisabeth Smith and Gan Uyeda. Working collaboratively to produce all aspects of exhibition production, Third Object emphasizes writing and research to explore the role of the curatorial hand in exhibition-making. Their most recent curatorial projects include Were the Eye Not Sunlike, Fernwey Gallery and ACRE TV; Mossy Cloak, Roots & Culture; Tush, 2nd Floor Rear; and Almost Ergonomic, Studio 424. www.thirdobject.net

Image credit: Eileen Rae Walsh, still from The Sky, digital video. Courtesy of the artist!

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Tags: steven l bridges, The Franklin, third object