This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 1, 2010 - The current feature in the New Media Series at the St. Louis Art Museum is “Marc Swanson and Neil Gust: Dark Room,” a 2009 digital video projection. It exhibits a distinctly retro feel, almost as if it’s referencing the early days of experimental video.
Over a soundtrack of pulsating rhythms, photographic and graphic images of a male figure merge and morph with abstract patterns in a dazzling symphony of effects. The connections among micro- and macro-levels of organic structure recall Kubrik’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” as well as Charles and Ray Eames’s seminal “Powers of Ten” of 1977.
This is the third collaboration between the Brooklyn-based artists, who pay homage to these and other sources while managing to produce a vibrant, distinctive visual commentary on the theme of technology and humanity.