Prescient Surfaces
An Exhibition at Ryniker-Morrison Gallery
Prescient Surfaces was Atlantika Collective’s exhibition on the climate crisis at Ryniker-Morrison Gallery at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. The exhibit was on view from January 12 to 28, 2022. It included artwork by many Atlantika Collective members who take a special interest in environmental issues, an interactive space for writing questions and answers on a wall outside the gallery, and an online panel discussion with Montana environmentalists, international climate experts, and curators called Breaking the Surface. An in-depth catalog including a curatorial essay by María Alejandra Sáenz is available here. Prescient Surfaces was the first of three exhibitions by Atlantika Collective on the climate crisis. Please be sure to also visit our page for the second exhibition, Approaching Event Horizons, on view from August 24 to October 1, 2022 at George Mason University’s new exhibition space in Arlington, Virginia. In 2023, we also expect a third installment of this evolving series, each one responsive to the specific site, to be on view at Loyola University Maryland.
Exhibition Statement
by María Alejandra Sáenz
As witnesses of the Anthropocene, more voices need to gather to acknowledge that the ecological crisis of our planet is unfolding before our eyes.
Far from predicting a geological period we know is upon us, Prescient Surfaces begins to reveal the extent of the current environmental crisis through the lens and works of seven artists.
Their works speak to concerns about unsustainable development, changes in the environment and its consequences, including intense variations in temperature that causes wildfires, erosion, poisoned waters, floods, and pollution—all evoking a sense of displacement and urgency.
As the dominant species that inhabit planet earth, humans are accountable for the present ecological devastation, so it’s time to ask: Is there a climate for change? What does climate change look like? How do you feel about climate change? How does climate change affect you personally?
In an attempt to unfold these questions, the joined voices in this exhibition—fighting the growing collective feeling of impotence towards these unsettling times—offer a space to actively engage in this discussion and pose even more questions.
The discourse that this environmental emergency will only affect future generations must end. This climate crisis is currently affecting us, and thus, our actions will deepen, positively or negatively, the impacts on our generation and generations to come.
If prescience entails having foresight or showing knowledge of events before they take place, this exhibition invites viewers to look beyond the surface of the current crisis and act creatively in our everyday life to mitigate climate change and foresee a new ecological future for the earth.
Sue Wrbican
Before the Ghost #1, Sue Wrbican, inkjet print, AP 2021.
Before the Ghost #2, Sue Wrbican, inkjet print, AP 2021.
Yam chew oh
Majulah Singapura, Yam Chew Oh, four inkjet prints, 2021.
An Internal Control, Yam Chew Oh, three inkjet prints, 2021.
The Time Giver, Yam Chew Oh, four inkjet prints, 2021.
KATIE KEHOE
Superimpositions: Wildfires in My Landscape, Eastern Montana Fire, Katie Kehoe, animated photography, 1:06 (loop), 2021.
(source of photograph documenting fire: screen capture, KTVQ)
Billy Friebele
Inversion / Submersion, Billy Friebele, video, 4:21.
Machines Learn From the River, Billy Friebele, a selection of digital print of video stills and images generated by an AI that was trained on the video stills, 2021.
Todd Forsgren
Hydrophilic & Hydrophobic from the series Full Fathom Five, Todd R. Forsgren, 2017-2021.
Gabriela bulisova & Mark Isaac
Untitled 1-12, from the series The Second Fire, Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac, archival digital inkjet prints, 2020.
Dawn Day Dusk, Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac, three channel video, 5:03, 2020.
Embers and Effluents, Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac, three channel video, 4:44, 2020.