Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Donna Seager
108 Throckmorton Ave.
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415-384-8288
donna@seagergray.com, www.seagergray.com
Seager / Gray Gallery features
Materiality Re-Mined; Deep Within the Screen of a Cell Phone
an installation by two artists, Catherine Richardson and Brooke Holve, that looks at the global impact of our much coveted cell phones on the environment. Digging deep into the components of a cell phone, the artists reveal links between its “smartness,” the mining industries and humans’ relationship with the earth.
The artists stated, “We are implicated users as the cell phone has become an important tool for our work.
As they researched this topic, they became aware of how little they knew about this tool that they daily hold in their hands and use to make & receive phone calls, text, email, take photos and videos, record sounds, conduct research and navigate their environments. Their research revealed challenging details as they learned how it was made. Much of what makes up the components in phones— including its electronics, display, battery, speakers and more—are made from mined minerals and semi-processed materials. The mines scatter the world often causing destruction to landscapes, eco systems and people. The installation will bring to light a few of these current issues as it looks specifically at the conflict minerals and the rare earth minerals that make the phones “smart.”
There are more cell phones than people on the planet.
The research culminates in a multi-media installation about the cell phone taking a “selfie” of itself. The exhibition includes projections, plexiglass and mixed media works, and an artist book that will be on view at the Seager Gray Gallery July 1 - 30th, 2021. There will be an artist talk on Saturday, July 10th at 3:00 pm followed by a reception from 4 - 6 pm.
Imagery and objects in the exhibit will evoke a sense of deep space and time. Two mini projectors (that resemble cell phones) will project moving images of the earth’s natural processes. A series of plexiglass works proportional to a recent iPhone model will contain imagery about mining. A collection of portable “Time Cards” charts the minerals and locations of productive mining sites throughout the world.
Shelves will display objects that reflect the artists’ processes and discoveries throughout their research. And an artist book alludes to a process of extracting from the depths of uncharted territory.
The artists hope that this exhibition will inspire the viewer to look within the screen to see more than just communication and navigational tools— instead to reflect on our personal attitudes and interdependencies with the earth. This installation is part of a larger movement of artists, “Art On The Edge Of The Abyss” working on the topic of extraction.
About the Artists:
To gather inspiration and material for their project, Brooke and Catherine traveled to artist residencies in Iceland and Ireland, visiting mines when opportunities surfaced. One was the Allihies Copper Mine on the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, Ireland where they were surprised to hear of its connection to Butte, Montana, home of Edwin Dobb, co-founder of the Extraction Art project of which this exhibit is a part. When the Allihies Mine closed in the 1880’s, there was a diaspora of miners and many emigrated to Butte, Montana to work in the Anaconda Copper Mine.