A few new points of view

Three New Shows at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery

Through Oct. 11

(412) 268-3618… Three New Shows at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery

Through Oct. 11

(412) 268-3618

Perception might be the easiest way we deceive ourselves. The way we see and remember the world is unique to each of us, and may or may not be based in reality. Artists seek to share their perceptions with the rest of us through their work. If this work is well done, the question of whether what we see is “real” becomes irrelevant. Instead, it’s the ability to communicate a compelling idea that takes center stage.

Three shows currently on display at the Regina Gouger Miller Gallery on Carnegie Mellon’s campus encourage us to loosen our grip on reality in its most strict, scientific sense, and interpret it through the eyes of the artists.

Shirin Neshat’s short film “Passage,” featuring the music of postmodern composer Philip Glass, is filled with rich, foreboding images. Shot in Morocco, the piece addresses loss of innocence and death, contrasting water and fire with an unforgiving earth. A feeling of tension and suffocation heightens as a funeral procession of men marches from the ocean’s edge toward a group of women digging a grave in the desert’s harsh soil just over the dunes. While Glass’s music doesn’t always seem dark enough for Neshat’s film, the two come together for a haunting finale.

Dominique Blain’s show, “Works,” seems to haunt the viewer and also takes advantage of the Miller Gallery’s large and quiet space with pieces that literally seem to watch the patrons in the gallery. “Buddha from Hadda 1 and 2” are pieces that feature a projection of two Buddha statues onto two walls, with moving eyes superimposed onto the faces of the statues. As the eyes blink and wander, the viewer can’t help but feel spooked, especially after reading that the statues are from a museum in war-riddled Afghanistan.

This feeling is heightened by the exhibit’s largest piece, “Missa.” One hundred pairs of worn army boots hang from a metal grid in the high ceiling in marching formation, and each pair has one boot lifted slightly above the ground, as if about to take another step. The boots twirl and sway from invisible drafts in the gallery, and these slight movements emphasize the ghostly effect. Blain’s pieces are simple and evocative – the best kind of political art.

The mood is more lighthearted on the third floor of the gallery, with Roger Sayre’s show “Nothing Isn’t Nothing.” This exhibit requires a less somber attitude, but it’s possible to spend more time there than at the other two exhibits combined.

One of Sayre’s pieces, “Sitting,” allows a person to sit in a homemade wooden photo booth for an hour (make an appointment before you go) and have the resulting picture displayed on the wall next to the booth, becoming part of the exhibit. “Mirror Chair” manipulates light and shadow by strategically placing small mirrors and pieces of stiff board on a canvas with a light bulb hanging off to one side. As the viewer backs away, the objects and their shadows combine to form the illusion of a chair and its shadow. This piece especially forces us to doubt what we see.

It’s no secret that the academic life can make the world seem drab. Luckily, the opportunity to change your view – free of charge – is just a few blocks up Forbes Avenue. Spend an hour at these three shows and maybe you’ll leave it looking at the world with new eyes.