NATHAN MINER: Ghostwriter
June 12 - August 15, 2020
Please download “GhostwriterXR” on a mobile device to view the Augmented Reality portion of this exhibition
Steven Zevitas Gallery is pleased to present NATHAN MINER: Ghostwriter. The exhibition will run from June 12 – August 15, 2020.
The work in Ghostwriter spans several media and realities, both physical and virtual. Miner utilizes drawing, painting, and Augmented Reality (AR) to question the frontiers of our creative agency, within and beyond the constraints of our natural world. The final exhibition migrates back and forth between material and virtual space. All of the objects included are installed in the brick and mortar gallery space, as well as a Virtual Gallery that can be accessed by downloading the app “GhostwriterXR,” which Miner developed. Additionally, several of the physical works may be augmented with AR components that activate the works by calling back to their formation.
Using Virtual Reality (VR) software, Miner began the Cloud Atlas paintings by creating a meditative color atmosphere which serves as a lexicon of visual possibilities for his paintings. He then virtually fabricated a wall with a rectangular, cut-out section from which he could view and restrict this atmospheric space; this “portal” is, in a sense, a view finder, that allows Miner to hone in on the specific data from which his paintings begin. While inside the gallery, the viewer can use the application to see beyond these paintings and the gallery walls into the original atmosphere. In doing this, the work comes full circle: the virtual becomes physical, to then dissolve back into pixels.
Miner thinks of these technologies as representations of how our brains form our own experiences within the physical world. As humans, our brains constantly work to collect sensory data and to build a coherence that we come to believe is synonymous with reality. This shapes our entire existence, from our banal preferences to our moral code. Though each of us undergoes this process, the outcomes are specific and individual—often dividing us. The technologies presented work similarly, however, they expose this process of building and layering reality. It is with this understanding that we can rewire our own perception—of each other and of ourselves.
NATHAN MINER lives and works in Boston, MA. Over the past decade, Miner has exhibited in many galleries, alternative art spaces and universities, including recent installations at Rafius Fane Gallery (Boston, MA), Montserrat College of Art (Beverly, MA) and the Museum of Art at University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH). His exhibitions have been reviewed by the Boston Globe and his work has been featured in Artpulse and Artscope magazines. Miner’s work belongs to the Wellington collection, among many private collections. Miner has been an artist in residence with Mass MoCA (North Adams, MA) and the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT).
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