Arnheim Gallery
November 15-December 2
Reception December 2, 5-8pm
Panel discussion 7-8
Cell-f includes Proprioceptive Refraction, a video sculpture in collaboration with Sarah Rushford, and Keeping the Core, a continually evolving project with participation from students in Professor Dan Roe’s Biological Form and Function class at MassArt and students in Kayser’s Public Art for Social Change class at The Urbano Project.
Stratum Dysjunctum, a large installation of 7000 plastic filled air pillows of the sort used in place of packaging peanuts, cordoned off by a thirty foot long rope made from ten years of the artists own hair, is the center piece of the Cell-f exhibition. The packaging bubbles are laid in layers stretched across a wall, and dotted with objects and tiny cellophane sacks of water and other substances, while light streams through the bubbles from behind. Stratum Dysjunctum is the medical name for the outermost layer of human skin, a layer that consists mostly of dead cells which eventually flake off to make way for new, living cells.
Each participant in the Keeping the Core project, ranging in age from fifteen to seventy five, was asked to sharpen, shave or peel crayons they chose in a variety of “flesh” tones. As they shaved the crayons into tiny glass bottles, they were asked to contemplate ideas of peeling, uncovering, removing and revealing, and write a paragraph describing their experience. Keeping the Core is an exploration in collective ideas of shedding, digging and eventual discovery and rebirth.
The collaborative video sculpture with Sarah Rushford, entitled Proprioceptive Refraction, uses two identical video monitors set approximately twelve feet apart. The video, is that of Kayser’s fingers tips breaking through water. They seem to reach through the empty space separating the monitors, and appear refracted on the other screen. Proprioception is the sense that indicates where the various parts of the body are located in relation to each other and whether the body is currently moving with required effort, and this piece uses video to extend the human limits of this sense.
In addition, Cell-f includes a series of digital prints with drawing that further explore ideas of proprioception and cellular structure. Altogether, the work in Cell-f , the title itself being a reference to both “Self” and a self made of “Cells,” investigates the idea that the body is continually transforming , that we as humans have a tacit understanding of what constitutes our “selves,” and that we might be able to define our corporeality through intense observation.
Heidi Kayser is also a curator, and founder of Axiom Center for New and Experimental Media. A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art’s Studio for Interrelated Media, she has also completed coursework in pre-medical studies and the Graduate Viola Performance Studio at Boston University. She has exhibited at Schiltkamp Gallery, Melle Finelli Gallery, FPAC Gallery, the Artists Foundation, Art Interactive, Godine Gallery and many others. Among other special projects including arts advocacy, curating, and leading educational initiatives, she has lectured at Northeastern, RISD, SMFA, Wentworth and MassArt, and is currently Artist in Residence at Urbano Project and adjunct faculty in the Studio for Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art. More information on Sarah Rushford and Dan Roe can be found at their websites: www.sarahrushford.com and www.danroe.net