MIG PRESS
June 14, 2000

In Ideogram Part 1

Participating Artists:
Martin Wattenberg, John Cabral and David Crawford

Curator Michele Thursz in collaboration with Steve Williams

"Ideogram n. 1. a symbol representing not the object pictured but something that the object pictured is supposed to suggest 2. a symbol expressing an object or idea without expressing the word for it."

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines the historical possibilities of symbolism. The evolution of language, on both a literal and a visual level, is the subject of this series. In Ideogram Part 1, artists explore the uses of the programmer's codes as a vocabulary capable of creating a visual environment. The work references the tradition of symbolism, while examining the ramifications of contemporary symbolic translation. The programmer translates modern ideas through historic references using a binary code. This is apparent in the projects of the three participating artists: Martin Wattenberg, John Cabral, David Crawford.

Wattenberg's uses the programming language JAVA to translate statistical graphics into subtlety nuanced images of beauty. The symbol that has been translated through unfamiliar language creates a familiar space.  >>

Cabral's is a landscape model of Time titled "Assimilate". This work transforms animated objects and sounds into synchronized pattern. The user can explore this world by moving through a series of visual planes. This environment is unique because it resides online and allows multiple users to have a common shared experience. Time as a reference creates an endless source of symbolism in both memory and the real time of the present.  >>

Crawford's Light of Speed .com uses symbols that serve as warnings. Tools that act as symbols of identification such as Man, Woman, Stop and Go are translated with a reference to the vocabulary of interactivity (click of a mouse). In addition, they reference a particular experience. Lightofspeed.com houses four Internet web-based projects. The most recent of these, "Here and Now," was completed in 1999. It was commissioned by the New Radio and Performing Arts organization with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Experimental Television Center (ETC). Collaborating in this project with the artists and Moving Image Gallery is Steve Williams. Williams an exhibiting artist was educated at the University of Illinois School of Architecture and at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He was a member of the Randolph Street Gallery (Chicago) exhibitions committee, where he curated shows and helped in the realization of individual artists' projects.

Show Events/Schedulen: June29 - July19, 2000
Opening reception Thursday June 29, 2000 6-9 PM

Michele Thursz, Director

movingimagegallery.com
414 Broadway
New York NY 10013