Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Visual Arts Ants and Grasshoppers glows in Castleberry
Posted by Wyatt Williams @wyatt_williams on Tue, May 24, 2011 at 3:14 PM
"The Ant and the Grasshopper" should ring a bell for those who know Aesop's fables. The story goes that ants are diligent workers whose focus helps them live through the winter, while the grasshoppers spend the warm months playing idly, only to find themselves in trouble, without shelter and food, in the cold seasons. That story has an unexpected resonance with Ants and Grasshoppers, an installation of David Batterman's photographs and Andrew Hammond's audio works in Castleberry Hill.
Batterman's photos evoke Atlanta in small but color-saturated moments: a plane lifts off above trains, young musicians sprawl out in lusty abandon, a grizzled man sits with his canine companion. Each of Hammond's audio works features a different voice delivering a monologue, paired one-to-one with Batterman's photos. At times, Hammond's voices create a narrative around the image and, in others, he seems to speak for a subject within it. The relationship between the two works isn't always clear at first, but, with a little patience, these two contributions combine to create a truly collaborative, singular work.
In a louder or busier exhibition, the subtle resonances of Batterman and Hammond's work might be easy to overlook, but they've benefited from an extraordinary installation in this vacant Nelson Street space. The photographs are projected on individual screens, so that they float in the dark space, glowing with light. Hammond's voices drop in from the ceiling: tiny, blinking speakers suspended by clear line. Upstairs, a typewriter sits at a desk, asking viewers to write about photographs, to say which were ants and which were grasshoppers. It's a simple gesture, evoking the ambiguity of Aesop's fable.
Dashboard Co-op's previous group exhibitions have been beautiful but ephemeral events: up for a single, fleeting night and then gone as quickly as they came. For Ants and Grasshoppers, they've thankfully chosen to keep the exhibition up for month. Gallery hours will be held tonight and tomorrow, May 24-25, from 8:30 until 10 pm. After that, they'll be showing the work by appointment until Tuesday, June 21.
Ants and Grasshoppers, featuring work by David Batterman and Andrew Hammond, runs at 364 Nelson until Tues., June 21. More details from Dashboard Co-op.
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