Monika Bravo:
Symphasis

simultaneous appearances

Through January 5, 2001

Colombian artist Monika Bravo creates a virtual aquarium in the gallery as part of her video and sound installation Symphasis. It is a simulated space which is at once contained yet appears to be as infinite as the ocean. The illusion of limitless freedom plays off against notions of boundaries and containment in this work which Robert Blake has described as operating on "the level of dream time."

Taped in aquariums throughout the world, projected images fill the room with swimming sharks and drifting jelly fish. In non-linear sequences, schools of tiny fish appear in endless replication—across the walls, ceilings, mirrored surfaces, and monitor—and are gone. Turquois water segues into the dark, primordial depths as images merge, overlap, and appear simultaneously. Movement is choreographed to synthesized sounds and the music of string instruments—Bravo worked with composer Raul Rothblatt to develop the soundtrack. Viewers' shadows and silhouettes create a human presence and also become a part of this prescribed, displaced environment. It is an abstract composition created from light, sound, and time.

Gallery hours: Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday from 10 am-4 pm

Lehman College Art Gallery

Bedford Park Blvd West • Bronx, New York 10468 • (718) 960-8731