Urban landscapces

The world is a big place, with so many different environments that we're really quite distant from one another. With a population of more than 6.5 billion and growing, how do the billions of us even begin to relate to one another? Technology and industrialization have succeeded greatly in making the world smaller, modern lifestyles comfier and communication easier.

But when the day is over and the machines turned off, perhaps the underlying effect of urbanized loneliness and disaffection is what we actually feel. Doug Aitken's interiors, the newest multimedia exhibit at the Henry Art Gallery, illustrates and examines this postmodern landscape of contemporary excess.

"Particularly important -- and resonant -- is [Aitken's] longstanding investigation into notions of time and how it is experienced," said Elizabeth Brown, chief curator and director of exhibitions and collections, at the Henry Art Gallery in a media release.

Time is indeed explored, as Aitken presents us with four distinct narratives told through 3-D sound and video that unfold simultaneously across three screens surrounding the viewer. Characters in the videos inhabit their own environment, but gradually each person's actions become increasingly similar and synchronized as they experience time.

Andre 3000 of the rap group Outkast freestyles and walks through a derelict neighborhood. A snapshot of Japanese urban culture is examined, in which a couple stand in the midst of a landfill and later an auctioneer rehearses intensely with rapid vocal repetition. The inner workings of a helicopter factory are displayed and a worker glibly tap dances in an empty studio. A lonely woman walks the empty streets of a metropolitan city to the gym and plays a game of handball with a friend. Though seemingly unrelated, these four stories are linked in an unspoken way by the same feelings they evoke through sound and imagery.

"This piece goes a long way with his ideas on how various strands of experiences come together in synchronicity," said assisstant curator Sara Krajewski.

The construction of the exhibit forces the viewer's attention. The walls of the Stroum Gallery, where Aitken's piece is located, are painted black, offering no distractions and creating an ominous feel of being enveloped in darkness and sound. Entering the exhibit itself is like entering another structure, entirely separate from the gallery. The three screens are built to form a roofless structure with a single entrance for the viewer.

"Within the Henry's own architecture, it's like a room within a room," said Krajewski. "The way it resides there really brings that space to life."

Situated in the center of the structure is a large donut shaped seat, allowing visitors to view all three videos at once or to take them in one at a time. The videos play together in several carefully constructed sequences.

One such sequence melds the cacophonic rhythms of Andre 3000, the tap dancing worker, and the woman playing a fast-paced game of handball into a manically intense musical piece. As the noises and rhythms collide with one another into a climactic finish, the sound and images suddenly collapse on themselves and start into a completely new sequence.

Aside from this one sound driven sequence, most of them are image based and rely on juxtaposing different narratives and environments in a collage of synchronized experiences. Many are situations that virtually anyone can identify with, regarding self-reflection, loneliness and the general practice of being human.

"Relating to the figures on a screen, there's a feel of empathy the viewer has," said Krajweski of the characters in each video. "It's hard not to lose a sense of yourself and become enveloped in the experience"

Overall, the exhibit offers an organic encounter with art in how it allows viewers to gain their own perspective and understanding of Aitken's work. Through the universal medium of moving images and sound, the viewer easily takes away a unique message of what the three separated, yet connected narratives are conveying.

"[Aitken's] work is really accessible from many different levels. You don't need to know any of his previous credentials," said Krajewski. "His work is so powerful, it's somewhat transcendent."