By Heike Dempster
“Unpredictable Patterns of Behavior” at the Art Center on Lincoln Road introduces a new curator to Miami. Ombretta Agro Andruff, who recently relocated from New York to Miami presents her debut show, a sequel to her 2012 New York exhibit “(Un)folding Patterns”
Andruff’s obsession with patterns deepened after the first show and the curator decided to further examine how artists deal with geometry and mathematical formulas. Contrary to the common belief of a separation between the left and right halves of the brain, Andruff sees the connections between mathematics and the art.
The exhibit explores how creative minds interpret patterns across artistic disciplines. Andruff chose artists ranging in practice from architecture to video, painting and mixed media installation. Each artist examines the kaleidoscope of natural and man made visual patterns differently. The works in the exhibit value aesthetics but also reflect upon the patterns that serve as their inspiration, whether visual or behavioral.
The invited artists Ramon Bofill, George Goodridge, Felice Grodin, Peter Hammar, MONAD Studio, Temisan Okpaku, Punto, Matt Sheridan, Anne Morgan Spalter, Alex Trimino and Sarah Walker present diverse work that Andruff loosely separates into three categories. The works are either based on extrapolated natural patterns integrated into art making, play with geometric patterns or incorporate unique patterns created by the artist and inspired by existing man made landscapes or invented systems.
The works at the Project 924 space are more interactive and include video while the pieces on show at the Richard Shack Gallery represent a more architectural approach. Spalter‘s video installation incorporates footage of the I -95 traffic, examining movement, modern life in an urban space and geometry, while Okpaku deals with “the boundary between order and chaos and the space or relationship between singularity and multiplicity.”
Okpaku’s site specific installation includes a series of images that originate from a single and original photographic image as well as translucent lines strung from floor to ceiling and walls, which force the viewer to engage in the space and with the work. As the perspective shifts so does the view of the images. The viewer’s movement also creates an additional individual pattern.
“Several principals and theories of contemporary scientific and philosophical investigation are both directly and indirectly referenced by the work. The work is intended to reference a moment in time in which we increasingly design and imbue our environment with our own conflicting intentions, a time in which a ‘theory of everything’ stands on a not so distant horizon.” Okpaku
Roa’s bungee cord “Space Drawings” create an intentional three dimensional, site-specific pattern with an additional curatorial pattern. The new patterns emerge because the view of other works in the same space can be altered depending on the viewer’s position and angle in relation to the cords.
Sheridan’s video installations and paintings are an interrelated pattern study that the curator calls “two faces of the same coin” because as he explains “the images that you see in the paintings are almost like still images of the animations so you will recognize exactly the same shapes and patterns.” Andruff set up the black and white pieces in the project room which creates a unique viewing experience. She deliberately set up the space as a 360 degree installation to create the illusion of stepping inside a canvas and becoming part of the work of art.
“Unpredictable Patterns of Behavior” brings together works that study patterns. Each work combines aesthetics with an understanding of modern society. The works create questions by turning the expected into the unexpected and incorporating the viewer into a very personal and interactive experience that changes known patterns and the ways in which we experience them.”
