Brett Balough: Noospheric Translations
April 12 - May 8, 2011
Brett Balogh’s installations map the imperceptible wavelengths of radio frequencies by capturing these elements from the surrounding environment and translating them into video and sound projections. Tracing the musical lineage and artistic contributions of John Cage, Christian Marclay, Philip Jeck, and points in between, Balogh relies upon analog media technologies to augment our senses of sight and hearing by providing access to worlds beyond our direct observation.
Installed in University Galleries, Gallery 2.5 from April 12 through May 8, 2011, Noospherium drew form from the ethereal formlessness of Hertzian radio frequencies. From the Greek, “mind” and “sphere,” noosphere refers to a theoretical space of collective thought hovering around us with omniscience and omnipresence. Balogh interprets this phenomenon by capturing the frequencies found in this space and translating their wave patterns into bodies of color and sound that morph and collide. Noospherium departs from simple illustration of commercial borders between radio and television stations to synthesize a wholly new, abstract cartographical view. The experience creates both visual and aural saturation, prompting what Balogh refers to as a “conversation with the space.” It is this conversation that prompts us to consider how the amorphous boundaries created by these broadcast signals may reverberate with our own perception.
Brett Balogh’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Hyde Park Arts Center (Chicago), P.P.O.W. (New York), Gallery Project (Ann Arbor), NY Art Book Fair (MoMA PS1, New York), Devotion Gallery (New York), and Green Sound (San Francisco). He received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2007) and his BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania (1999).
