Exhibition: Refactoring

Type: Solo
Venue: Prince George's Publick Playhouse
Address: Cheverly, MD, USA
Dates: May 9th, 2023—Jul 14th, 2023
Link: More Info

Artist's Statement

When a given piece of software has been around for a while, its developers may begin asking for it to be “refactored”: rebuilt from scratch, throwing away its accumulated quirks.

Discarding vast amounts of others’ work is quite the decision to make. Imagine throwing out the only prints of a classic film and remaking it from scratch; would it be better?

The works in “Refactoring” reflect on gleaming acts of hubris, some mine:

In Rxsqtta-Stzne and Impressions I have thrown away vast amounts of visual detail. These glowing screens try to show images to you—but are they discernable?

The physical shape of S(p)lash is designed to take up as much space as possible—art-spreading, if you will.

Plans highlights an unseen homeowner’s half-made project, later thrown under a house and forgotten.

One-to-Many dwells in the question of what might happen if we keep building ever-smarter machines: will they take the reins?

Forces is inspired by the clear-cutting of forests.

And Daybreak uses candy-colored lenses to show you endless dawns and sunsets: Surely, if you don’t like this sunset, another will come. Right?

—Chris Combs