Saturday August 3rd will be the opening of art collective Growth Spurt’s debut installation titled Sectional at Dorchester Art Project. Growth Spurt is a collaboration between four New England artists; Chloe DuBois, Renee Silva, Keaton Fox, and Casey McNulty. The group uses their own specialized mediums to come together in a joint multimedia installation; their goal is to push the idea of artists being a jack of all trades, collaborating with their individual skill sets. The show creates a physical space, reminiscent of a living room, where the viewer experiences the modern overflow of media and content. I interviewed the members of Growth Spurt over Instagram group DM, with the idea that platforms like Instagram demonstrate the absurd manner in which we consume news in our current world, similar to the way that the group is hoping to replicate in the exhibition. 

Chloe DuBois

The main element of Sectional is the contrast between comfort and fear. News platforms not only use the public’s anxiety to assure people will watch for horrifying information, but then give the same amount of exposure to pop culture news which realigns our priorities.  

Renee Silva

The exhibition, consisting of everyday objects altered into absurdities (an augmented reality couch, a t shirt lined with concrete) is not only a physical representation and deconstruction of our experience as observers, but a combination of the experiences and skill sets of four artists. 

Coming together over shared fears is the basis of many groups, and it’s how Growth Spurt is creating their first entirely collaborative installation. They show what is capable when people collaborate, and present the idea of future possibilities for people of varying skills working together.

Keaton Fox

You don’t have to “understand” contemporary art to come to this exhibition— any human being living in our current age will feel something uncomfortably familiar at Sectional.

Sectional will be on view at the Dorchester Art Project from August 3rd through August 31st. An opening reception will be held on Saturday the 3rd from 7 to 10 pm. More information on the exhibition can be found here.