Viz prof's multisensory interactive exhibition exhibited in Houston

An interactive art exhibit featuring sonic sculptures, kinetic assemblages and mechanized drawings created by [Sherman Finch] (http://shermanfinch.com/wordpress/) , assistant professor of visualization at Texas A&M, displayed Jan. 26 - March 10, 2018 at [Art League Houston] (https://www.artleaguehouston.org/upcoming-exhibitions/) .

The show, "Perceptual Perpetual," relied on audience participation to activate the visual system, creating variations in how the conceptual work is experienced.

“It’s kind of a physics machine,” said Finch. “Similar to the anatomy of a pachinko game or children’s handheld spinner toy, where gravity, kinetics, and a variety of other forces, cause surfaces to spin and set objects in motion. Each piece offers a unique interactive framework that creates random fluctuations in movement and audio mechanics. As the work is activated, a conversation emerges between visual aesthetics and embodied interaction.”

The result was a playful art experience celebrating creativity and human ingenuity,

“The exhibition presented a nexus between art and science that recalls such sources as Galileo’s astronomical instruments, Leonardo da Vinci’s diagrams on perpetual motion, John Cage’s artistic philosophy of chance, and Jean Tinguely’s concept of meta-mechanics,” Finch said.

The Jan. 26 opening reception for "Perceptual Perpetual" featured a talk by Finch in the front gallery of Art League Houston at [1953 Montrose Blvd.] (https://goo.gl/maps/KVKbJi7dvdr) in Houston.

Finch, who has a bachelor’s degree in art from the Rhode Island School of Design and two master’s degrees from the Maryland Institute, is a hybrid artist who works in traditional, digital, and multi-media forms, with a special emphasis in the area of creative interaction, kinetic assemblage, sonification, and conceptual art.

His work has been exhibited, performed and screened at venues such as Roswell Museum and Art Center, Amarillo Museum of Art, Artscape in Baltimore, Site:Brooklyn, Govenor’s Island Art Fair, Alexandria Museum of Art, Art Interactive Gallery Boston, Sarai Media Lab in New Delhi, New Museum of Art Detroit, York Art Gallery UK, among other places.

He is included in the publication Future Now: 100 Contemporary Artists, produced by Aesthetica, a British art and culture magazine. Recently, Finch’s work was featured on a [billboard] (http://shermanfinch.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/sherman_finch_billboard_creative-600x600.jpg) in Los Angeles as part of the 2016 Billboard Creative Public Art Project and was an official selection of the 2017 London Experimental Film Festival. He is a founding member of the collaborative group, The AKA Collective.

Sarah Wilson
swilson@arch.tamu.edu