Towson Exhibits Coincide with Artscape

Do you ever get that urge to go see an art exhibit—to just wander aimlessly by yourself through open spaces dotted with pure beauty and hard work? Yeah, me neither.

However, after happening upon a few exhibits in the past couple of days, I'm kicking myself for not taking the initiative before now. They were really nice. Even nicer is the fact that you don't have to go all the way downtown to the Walters or the BMA to experience them. This art is free to see and located here in Towson, and all three exhibits are part of the Artscape celebration in Baltimore this weekend.

The first of the three, "Developmental Skills," is located in 's Center for the Arts. There are five fairly abstract works ranging from interactive pieces that require viewer participation (and a signed waiver) to a digital video of a girl meditating while a dog runs around her—pretty “out there.”

Basically, it's 16 television sets of different sizes and varieties, stacked upon one another, each giving their own light and color animation display. While each set was clearly operating on its own, it seemed that the whole was projecting as a singular organism—each individual hum weaving in and out like electronic breath. I don't know what the artist's intention was, or if there even was one. I do know that it had me transfixed for a good seven minutes and, by God, I could have sworn the “breathing” got louder the closer I got.

The next exhibit, also located in the Center for the Arts, is a bit larger and a touch more involved. “Medium of Exchange” invites viewers to often engage with the art in hopes of better determining the value of each piece. The literature I picked up states, “the sale price and/or insurance figures listed for each work of art are often calculated using a formula of both conceptual and physical expenses.”

I particularly enjoyed artist Shannon Young's piece, Dinner with an Artist. “This imagined dinner is depicted as a [giant] receipt, showing the breakdown of costs including food, furniture, utilities and the value of her conversation and company,” the pamphlet explains. The patron in this scenario is to choose between useless banter and heated discussion of the artist's work among other types of conversation. Each type is priced accordingly.

Lastly, and just a stone's throw away at 's Silber Art Gallery, is a fascinating collection called “Wildland.”  This exhibit explores man's interaction with nature.

There are a lot of interesting and thought-provoking works here, all from nine different local artists. I'm sure the attention of most people is immediately directed to the life-size bear sculpture made out of strips of oak, though I happened upon Travis Childers' Brickscapes.

This is a series of bricks placed orderly on the floor, each with a different environment constructed on its top face. After reading about it, I discovered it's a look at how man uses “man-made materials to create [his] own nature.” Each brick represents a “region man has 'conquered.'”

All these exhibits are free to the public and very worthwhile. They're also easier to get to than driving downtown.

I, for one, never really got into abstract art. It always seemed like a cop-out or something that could be easily reproduced. After experiencing these collections at Towson University and Goucher, however, I realize the true art often lies in the artist's message and in the interaction between material and space.

I guess my liberal arts education really is paying off.