Montclair State University: University Galleries Re-Open With ‘Tech/Know/Future/ From Slang To Structure'

Press release from Montclair State University:

September 6, 2021

The Montclair State University Galleries are back with a new director and the first in-person exhibition in nearly two years.

Tech/Know/Future/ From Slang to Structure runs September 14 through December 11 with an opening reception on Thursday, September 23. Dynamic works of art will be installed around campus and in gallery settings, bringing art to the University community in surprising and inventive ways.

Under the direction of University Galleries Director Megan C. Austin, the exhibition is curated by Tom Leeser, director of the Art and Technology Program and the Center for Integrated Media at CalArts, who has brought together a group of innovative artists including: Morehshin Allahyari, Salome Asega, Nancy Baker Cahill, Stephanie Dinkins, Carla Gannis, Taehee Kim, LoVid, Amelia Marzec, Olivia Mole, Sondra Perry and Casey Reas.

These 11 diverse cross-disciplinary artists present a critical response to technological systems within art addressing the issues of identity, history and abstraction, placing the viewer at the intersection of the past, present and future. The artists use their creative practices to establish new relationships between technology, knowledge and time through augmented reality, artificial intelligence, sound, video, textiles and works on paper.

The show is part of Austin’s vision to revamp Montclair State University Galleries programming to focus on exhibiting new and timely work made by contemporary artists who comment on the current state of social, political and visual culture.

“Working with artists and curators whose work provokes conversation around relevant issues that impact University students, faculty, staff and the greater community presents a unique opportunity for an academic institution to explore the contemporary art world and how the ideas presented by artists connect across disciplines and differences,” says Austin.

Leeser adds, “To date, my artistic, academic and curatorial practices have been built on creating
momentary experiences of art and technology within a critical framework of change. I’m very conscious of the accelerated states of flux within our political and cultural spheres, but the events of this particular moment caused me to pause – to reflect and to reconsider how we perceive time within the urgent task of generating greater diversity and social equality.

Tech/Know/Future/ From Slang to Structure is an assembly of artists and writers who produce genre-bending work, Leeser says.“To me, they represent what [Italian cultural theorist] Bifo Berardi calls the ‘complex constellations that comprise our present.’”

The exhibition draws inspiration from the essay “Iconic Treatise Gothic Futurism” by the late writer, artist and musician Rammellzee, and Berardi’s book After the Future.

Rammellzee designed a “technological language” to challenge the art world’s conventional approaches to image-making and writing. Berardi defines the future as a “cultural construction” of a materialistic, superficial, 20th-century society. He declares the mythology of the future is over, with the rise of global capitalism and its powerful “imaginary effects” to blame. Berardi’s post-future is a dematerialized, infinite present, a virtual space and time.

Among the highlights of the exhibition:

Gallery Hours

Tuesday – Saturday 11 a.m – 5 p.m.

Opening Reception

Thursday, September 23, 2021
5 – 7:30 p.m.
6 p.m. Remarks from Director Megan C. Austin, Dean Daniel Gurskis, and curator Tom Leeser
To register to attend, visit the event registration page.

Join the conversation on social media by tagging @montclairstategalleries and using the hashtags #TechKnowFuture and #MontclairStateGalleries when posting.

This exhibition is made possible, in part, by funds from the McMullen Family Foundation, the College of the Arts, and private contributions.

This press release was produced by Montclair State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.