Message from Our Planet is curated around the idea that media technologies―from vintage devices to cutting-edge digital algorithms―offer distinct ways for artists to communicate with future generations, encapsulating the artifacts and ambitions of contemporary society. Exhibiting artists include: Brian Bress, Lia Chaia, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Hong Hao, Matthew Angelo Harrison, Claudia Hart, Jenny Holzer, Eduardo Kac, Lee Nam Lee, Christian Marclay, Paul Pfeiffer, Tabita Rezaire, Michal Rovner, Jason Salavon, Elias Sime, Skawennati, Penelope Umbrico, and Robert Wilson. The exhibition tours to five venues over the next two years. A free, fully illustrated brochure designed to emulate a newspaper is available within the exhibition.
Chief curator Katherine Alcauskas leads a tour of Message From Our Planet in the Rowland Gallery
Says the exhibition’s curator Jason Foumberg, “Message from Our Planet was inspired by the interstellar time-capsule Voyager 1, a spacecraft containing a record of human culture launched into outer space by NASA in 1977. I wanted this group exhibition to evoke a similar multi-vocal message by artists who share a human desire to be understood across time and space.”
“The exhibition’s theme and international checklist touches on aspects of culture and human achievement that unite communities across the globe,” says the Thoma Foundation’s Director, Holly Harrison.
The exhibition was curated from the Thoma Foundation’s artwork loan program, which sends artworks to regional and public museums in the US. Comprising over 300 artworks from the 1960s to present, the Foundation’s collection is dedicated, in part, to supporting digital, video and new media art.
Top: Lee Nam Lee, Cartoon Folding Screen II, 2010, five-channel digital video with sound on 5 LED monitors in custom frames with custom electronics
ABOUT THE THOMA FOUNDATION
The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation recognizes that education and the arts enhance individuals’ lives and communities. Education is centered in the rural Southwest, primarily focusing on scholarships. In the Arts, the Foundation makes grants, lends and exhibits their art collection. The Foundation believes strongly in leadership, innovation and equality of opportunity.