Not of This Earth: Contemporary Art and Science Fiction is an exhibition featuring artworks that explore the prevalent themes in Science Fiction. Many famous Science Fiction books and movies, such as 1984 and Bladerunner, depict dystopian futures that raise questions about the potential dangers of unhindered technological advancement.
The artworks in the Not of This Earth exhibit invite the viewer into an emotional meditation on the loneliness of the harsh dystopian environments presented in Science Fiction. Surprisingly, however, many of the artworks in this exhibit are gorgeous pieces to look at, rather than being dark or bleak evocations of society’s doom.
The exhibition includes film, sculpture, and print artworks, yet it is the 3D video pieces that are especially compelling. These videos, two large projections, and two view-able on monitors with headphones immerse the viewer into paradoxically beautiful, yet desolate worlds.
Michael Lewy’s Bigfoot Island is a 3D video piece in this exhibit that balances these two worlds in an especially complex combination of playfulness, beauty, and charm. Lewy was inspired to create this video based on his childhood memories of watching 70’s Science Fiction TV shows. Small, incomplete clips of these shows stuck with him, and as a result Bigfoot Island presents a colorful video memory collage in the tone of Science Fiction’s bygone aesthetic of childlike fantasy. Watching the ebb and flow of the beautiful, somber scenes in Bigfoot Island serves as a reminder of the ability of Science Fiction to inspire renewed hope for beauty and innocence.
Find your way to the Boston Cyberarts Gallery, located in the Green St. T stop (141 Green St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130) to see this exhibit before it ends on February 26, 2017.
The gallery is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
