|
Matt Marello
1968 | 2001
8
September - 9 October, 2006
Opening reception: Monday, 11 September, 7-9pm

Footprint in World Trade Center Dust, 2006, Digital
ink jet print on watercolor paper, 30 x 40 inches
1968 | 2001
"Apophenia"
is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless
data. This term was coined in 1958 by Klaus Conrad, who defined it as
the "unmotivated seeing of connections" accompanied by a "specific
experience of an abnormal meaningfulness."
Conrad originally described this phenomenon in relation to the distortion
of reality present in psychosis, but it has more recently been used to
describe this tendency in healthy individuals without necessarily implying
the presence of neurological or mental illness. Apophenia is often used
as an explanation for paranormal and religious claims. It has also been
suggested that apophenia is a link between psychosis and creativity.
Matt Marello's 1968 | 2001 is an extensive multimedia
presentation based on the phenomenon of apophenia. A few years ago, while
digesting the events of 9/11, Marello began to notice an odd synchronicity
between the destruction of the World Trade Center and Stanley Kubrick's
sci-fi epic, "2001: A Space Odyssey." His further explorations
led him into a strange and murky world, linking together such diverse
elements as the moon, apes, 9/11, "2001: A Space Odyssey" and
the historically pivotal years 1968 and 2001.
Matt Marello has exhibited extensively throughout the United States and
Europe, including "Star, Star" at the Cincinnati Contemporary
Art Center (2006); "Planet B" at the Palais Thurn & Taxis
in Bregenz, Austria (2004); and "cine y casi cine" at the Museo
Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sophia, Madrid (2003). Recent solos shows
include "The Three Stooges" at Il Ponte Contemporanea in Rome
(2004); "The Pollock Project" at Pierogi, Brooklyn (2002) and
Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Santa Monica, CA (2002); and "The Artist
Trilogy" at the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius, Lithuania (2001).
He is also a recent John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow in
Video (2004).
For
information on Matt Marello's 2002 exhibition at Pierogi:
The Pollock Project
|