Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA)

Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA)
OMA occupies the venerable 1934 former City of Oceanside City Hall designed by pioneering San Diego architect Irving Gill and the Frederick Fisher designed Central Pavillion opened in 2008.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Total Information Awareness: Black Light Installation by The Ancient Gallery


Experience a glow in the dark wonderland of art in Total Information Awareness, a temporary installation by The Ancient Gallery on view in the Oceanside Museum of Art Groves gallery March 10 through March 12, 2010. Challenging your perception with black lights and UV reactive sculptures The Ancient Gallery has created an installation that comes alive with three-dimensional glasses. Playing with multiple genres and motifs, the artist collective fabricates art from scratch as well as assembling mass-produced cultural icons. Viewers will see recognizable imagery from Renee Magritte, Edward Munch, and Leonardo da Vinci, as well as themes that emulate ancient civilization, medieval Europe, Eastern Religion, science fiction and tribal cultures morphing with psychedelic designs. As a result of their diverse use of imagery they stand aside the demarcation of fine art and kitsch, blurring the boundary.

The Ancient Gallery is a collective of artists: Nigel Brookes, founder of TAG, sculptor and assemblage artist; Iain Gunn, puppeteer and founder of Zirk Ubu; and Mark Johnson, sculptural engineer and lighting specialist. This nomadic collective that has displayed their work at the San Diego Museum of Art, Burning Man and other art driven festivals, strives to create visionary installations that engage the viewer through the medium of black light. Altering your normal perception the viewer is confronted with an ulterior universe that opens your mind to the curiosities of the world.

According to TAG, Total Information Awareness is the idea that we are made of systems that we can and can’t control, such as our nervous system, genetics, biological, social and digital. The average person interacts with media based systems, such as the TV, computer, or your phone, approximately 9 hours a day. With so much information coming and going it can be easy to get lost in a world of artificial intelligence. Being conscious of the material you upload to data mining systems such as facebook and twitter reflects an awareness of the dangers technology can present. Everything around you from the TV programs you watch, the news, and magazines can influence your personality and affect your thinking. Mindfulness of the information you publish and receive can alter your life, just as this installation can open your mind to new forms of perception.