Ditch Projects: Selections from Flatland
Exhibition Dates: February 4 - March 12, 2016
“Either this is madness or it is Hell.”
“It is neither,” calmly replied the voice of the Sphere, “it is Knowledge; it is Three Dimensions: open your eye once again and try to look steadily.”
― Edwin A. Abbott, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Coming in February, PataPDX will feature a selection of recent work from Eugene-based artist group Ditch Projects, inspired by the novel Flatland.
Widely recognized as one of the leading artist-run organizations in Oregon, the members of Ditch Projects periodically work together as a collective, adhering to a collaborative framework of making that prescribes materials, colors, and working methodologies to ultimately create one cohesive installation.
In this exhibition (which was first shown at Linfield Gallery, where Josephine Zarkovich serves as curator), Ditch Projects takes up the book “Flatland.” Written by Edwin Abbot as a social satire in 1884, “Flatland” chronicles the adventures of a character from an entirely two dimensional world, in which men are polygons and women consist only of lines, as he encounters one dimensional and three dimensional beings and worlds.
In the exhibition Flatland, highly geometric prints, paintings, videos and sculptures function not as direct illustrations of Abbot’s writing, but as configurations of gestures and materials that use the text as a jumping off point to intuitively investigate the complexities proposed in the book, especially the interplay between two and three dimensions. The work is indebted to the book, while operating at a degree of creative remove, pointing crookedly back to it.
Image credit: Ditch Projects
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Ditch Projects is an artist-run studio, installation and performance space located in downtown Springfield. Since 2008 Ditch has featured over 70 exhibitions in their venue curating one-person exhibitions, group shows, and performances that have included over 170 artists.
Ditch Projects is operated by a group of artists committed to exhibiting contemporary art that is of a critical, conceptual, and/or interdisciplinary nature. By providing opportunities for research and conceptual experimentation, Ditch Projects supports the practices of emerging and established artists from this region and beyond. Exhibiting artists have included Calvin Ross Carl, Patrick Rock, Oregon Painting Society, Alex Becerra, Ralph Pugay, Amy Yao, Roman Signer, Michael Snow, Diana Thater, Scott Reeder, Laura Owens and many more.
In addition, Ditch puts on exhibitions by artist members, who also range from emerging to established. An active agent within Oregon’s cultural community, Ditch Projects provides a platform to artists producing challenging and innovative work in diverse media, cultivating a network of like-minded individuals, groups, and organizations. Ditch Projects members are Lee Asahina, Mike Bray, Isami Ching, Chelsea Couch, Sarah Mikenis, Donald Morgan, Jack Ryan, Rick Silva and Jessie Rose Vala.
More info at:
ditchprojects.com