This month, Ryan James Fine Art at Kirkland Urban is presenting a solo show, Vertical Blank, by video installation artist Jason Biehner. We invite you to join us for a Gallery Night featuring the artist on Saturday, January 13th from 5 PM – 9 PM.
About Vertical Blank by Jason Biehner
Viewership has long been a passive activity. Whether it is a museum, gallery, theater or our own living rooms, the art, films, music, or whatever other medium we are consuming is there to be looked at. We, as the viewer, have little to no impact or feedback into what we are viewing. It is there on the screen (or wall, gallery etc.) we can take it or leave it but not change it.
Screens have come to dominate the landscape of our everyday lives. From virtual meetings, self-checkouts, automated kiosks, or the barrage of streaming services, we interact with screens at an ever-increasing rate. These are no longer one-way interactions either, our data is being constantly collected, what we have purchased, where we have been and where we are going, our faces, fingerprints and very eye movement are collected, parceled up and sold. Our screens have come to control us rather more than we control them.
Vertical Blank works to break these dichotomies. Through a series of installations played out on various screens, viewers are invited to play a role in what they are viewing by directly interacting with the images being created. From 16mm film, to flatscreen displays, viewers are encouraged to manipulate the medium and create the vision they wish to see.
