tilt/SHIFT exhibition catalog (high resolution, 33MB file)
tilt/SHIFT exhibition catalog (low resolution, 10MB file)In the summer of 2014, the Cannon Gallery of Art invited Stephanie Boluk, a scholar and media theorist from Pratt Institute, and Patrick LeMieux, an artist and game designer from Duke University, to undertake a collaborative residency with Daniel Tankersley, an artist on faculty at Western Oregon University. From July 7 to 17, these three artists engaged the gallery, the campus, and the state of Oregon to produce tilt/SHIFT, an exhibition of a dozen new artworks focusing on a network of photographic images, graphic user interfaces, media archeology, and site-specific art.
The term "tilt-shift" refers to a photographic technique in which the angle (tilt) and position (shift) of a lens are skewed in relation to the film or digital sensor. This can be used to produce a kind of hyperselective focus, blurring all but a thin, sharp plane within an image--an effect producing miniaturized or toylike appearances. The same narrowing of visual attention is enacted by a “manicule,” the miniature, pointing hand that first appeared in medieval manuscripts and is commonly used to represent the mouse cursor in computer operating systems. Click, drag, tilt, shift: both tilt-shift photography and the manicule icon operate according to an aesthetic of selection.
Paper or plastic? Coke or Pepsi? iPhone or Android? In the 21st century, selection expands from the conscious choice of individuals into a collective nonconscious--a cultural ideology structuring attention and desire. Upvote, like, heart, favorite: ubiquitous media platforms like Google and Facebook aggregate billions of individual selections into an invisible economy of clicks, flowing through The Dalles like the waters of the Columbia River. From a giant shift key to tilt-shift photography, and from shifted and tilted gallery furniture to the shifts and tilts of arcade play, tilt/SHIFT renders the culture of selection visible by appropriating its aesthetic.
The exhibition is free and open to the public September 15 - October 8. The Dan & Gail Cannon Gallery of Art is located in Campbell Hall at Western Oregon University, 345 N Monmouth Ave, Monmouth, OR 97361. Gallery hours are 8:00am - 5:00pm, Monday –Friday.
Please join us for a reception from 4:30 - 6:00pm, Wednesday, October 1.
The Cannon Gallery of Art is located in the heart of Western Oregon University's campus in the beautifully renovated Campbell Hall. Campbell Hall was built in 1871 and is the oldest building still in use the Oregon University System. The gallery has approximately 700 square feet of exhibition space and holds six exhibitions during each academic year. Thematic and media-specific exhibits by regional and nationally acclaimed artists are included in each annual schedule.
If you have any other questions
please contact Paula Booth at boothp@wou.edu, (503)838-8607
Dan and Gail Cannon Gallery of Art
345 N. Monmouth Ave.
Monmouth, Oregon 97361
Gallery hours
M – F 8:00 am – 5:00 pm and by appointment
(we are happy to accommodate group visits)
The Cannon Gallery of Art (503) 838-8607 | or e-mail: boothp@wou.edu
