This series of work explores extreme elevation of temperature in the human body and the resulting dissociative states, delusions and revelations that arise as this fragile apparatus crosses the edge of the narrow (about 1.8 degrees fahrenheit tolerance) thermal line it can comfortably inhabit.
In a thermochemical distillation process occurring over the duration of the exhibition, printed words will be dissolved off the pages of books of poetry and prose alluding to fever-induced states and will be processed into an essential oil. This oil will be used to fill a fluid filled lens integrated in a heated viewing device to observe inverted schematic drawings of moral and quasi-religious systems inspired by feverish states onset by a rigorous movement-based practice.
The work will change subtly over the course of the exhibition. A small library of fever-related texts will grow and diminish as the books are read and processed, and the still will be fired intermittently. The fluid filled double convex magnifying lens will be filled with the accumulated essential oils from the distillation process. Please use caution while moving through this delicate installation.
Many thanks to Christopher McElroy, Becky Feather, Zach Savich, and Sonia Williams.
Distillation performance demonstration: Thursdays, 5.00pm-6.00pm, for the duration of the exhibition
Alexander Rosenberg is a Philadelphia-based artist and educator. He received a BFA in glass from Rhode Island School of Design and Master of Science in Visual Studies from MIT. His artistic practice is rooted in the study of glass as a material, in conjunction with broad interdisciplinary investigation crossing over into many other media and areas of research.
Alexander pursues his practice with artist residencies, teaching, performances and exhibitions locally and internationally. He is a founding member of Hyperopia Projects and an artist member of Vox Populi Gallery in Philadelphia where he also heads the glass program at University of the Arts.
He is the recipient of the 2012 International Glass Prize, UArts FADF Grant, and the deFlores Humor Fund Grant (MIT). He has attended artist residencies at GlazenHuis in Belgium, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Worcester Craft Center. He has taught workshops at The Studio at The Corning Museum of Glass, RIT, Ohio State University, San Jose State University, and Salem Community College. His work has been exhibited in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Virginia, San Francisco, Boston, Providence, Cambridge, Rochester, Connecticut, Belgium and Denmark.
