TRASA's Artist-in-Residence Program presents: aerial: an object and sound installation
what does death erase, and what remains... TRASA urban arts collective is proud to launch our new Visual Artist-in-Residence program with aerial: the first collaboration between David and Mathieu Ruhlman. Working with found objects, photographs, sound, video, and sculpture, the Ruhlman brothers provide an intimate look into possession and loss, separation and transcendence. Aerial tells the story of a person desperate to reconnect with lost family. Using the possessions his family left behind, he obsessively tries to build a receptor—an aerial—through which he can communicate across the barrier of death. Drawing from the fringes of science and mysticism, the Ruhlman brothers construct an interactive world of failed (and successful?) experiments to ask: What unspoken connections link family and what is transmitted across those connections? Do these connections survive death? What residue of individuals is left in the objects they possessed? Can these objects serve as a gateway into a hidden field of communication with those we’ve lost? By inviting the viewer into this private space of personal discovery and revelation, aerial hopes to reveal the subtle voices spoken intuitively by individuals and the objects that surround them. About the artists Mathieu Ruhlman is a sound and video artist living in Vancouver, B.C. He has released numerous recordings on various U.S., Canadian, and European Record labels, and has performed radio works for programs around the world. He was recently commissioned for a sound installation at the Liquid Architecture Festival in Brisbane, Australia. David Ruhlman is a self-taught artist, based in Salt Lake City, UT, whose paintings and mixed-media works have been exhibited at Art Access, Rio Grande Gallery, Unknown Gallery, the Women’s Art Center, Object Gallery, and the Salt Lake Art Center. He was featured at the 2005 Art Papers auction in Atlanta, GA, and the 2005-07 Utah Arts Council Traveling Exhibit. TRASA urban arts collective's Artist-in-Residence program supports visual and performing artists in the creation and exhibition of innovative new work. TRASA offers workspace, access to equipment and technical assistance, exhibition opportunities, and funding for the realization of ambitious projects. This program establishes a vital channel of interaction between the Salt Lake community and cutting-edge artists from around the continent through artist-led discussions, workshops, and presentations of works-in-progress. |
