Art N' About

Author: LAUREN SMITH

An interactive exhibit opened at the Firehouse Gallery in Burlington last Friday night. The exhibit, entitled Another Side of In: Mike Gordon and Marjorie Minkin, explores the linkage between sound, movement and visual art. Gordon, most widely known as the bass player of Phish, and Minkin, who happens to be his mother, create a peaceful yet dynamic environment that is made all the more so by the continually shifting soundscapes triggered by the viewer's movements.

The exhibition consists of 20 paintings by Marjorie Minkin on heat-formed Lexan is the General Electric tradename for a lightweight, tough and break resistant plastic that can be manipulated when exposed to heat. The artist creates organic, colorful shapes that mirror the appearance of melted glass. Though each "painting" is similarly shaped, the colors vary according to the feeling provoked by the accompanying music created by Gordon. Minkin, who writes in her artist statement that she and her son have long hoped to work collaboratively, worked in a recording studio with Gordon to create the exhibition pieces. The pieces are inspired by the "colors" and "textures" of the sounds from his latest CD. "I have made a group of heat molded painted Lexan works as my personal response to the rhythms and tones of the music," Minkin writes on the exhibit's web site, www.anothersideofin.com.

Each painting has a mounting system that accommodates a hidden speaker and proximity sensor. The sound clips triggered by a viewer's proximity come from Gordon's 2003 CD, "Inside In," which is the soundtrack to his experimental movie, "OUTSIDE OUT." Gordon writes: "It's a collaboration-meant-to-be, since my artistry has always been inspired by my mother's…my Inside In album is now lending the perfect setting for a more in-depth juxtaposition." The sound clips from Gordon's CD encompass a wide range of instruments and musical influences, from the sound of a banjo to a collection of rhythmic reggae-influenced beats. Of course, some of the clips have a Phish-inspired sound. Even though the sounds vary widely, the space that houses the exhibit never seems chaotic, even with a crowd of people inside. Each clip is perfectly balanced to create a stimulating, yet serene atmosphere.

The key element in the exhibit is the viewer. Without the viewer's proximity, the pieces remain silent and stagnant. At a variable distance from each painting, the sound loop associated with it will begin. The sound's volume will rise or fall as one gets closer or moves away from a piece. "So many of the installations that I've seen that claim to be "interactive," often with rave reviews, seem to be hardly that," writes Gordon. "They offer no clear correlation between art and observer. We would like, with this show, to provide a more stimulating example of viewer participation."

The gallery is located at 135 Church St. The exhibit ends on April 30. Check out the Web site anothersideofin.com - it too has some awesome interactive features.