The Sputtering, Human-Shaped Machine

Phillip Birch

Alex Bunn

Nathaniel Lieb

Maya Manvi

Deirdre Sargent

Curated by Jerry Blackman

There is a trope within the science fiction film genre where a seemingly human character is revealed to be an android. This is done through any number of techniques: in the Terminator films, the human flesh is burned or blasted off to reveal a shiny chrome robot skull. In the Alien franchise the androids are more fluid-based, and the contrast between the mechanical and the organic forms is more subtle. Some of the androids in Steven Spielberg's A.I. and similarly in Michael Crichton's West World open cleanly with doors pivoting elaborately at previously unseen seams. Whatever the case, the formal punch of this image is consistently seductive, terrifying, and saturated with visual power and metaphor. It is the moment that our fantasies collapse. It's the material of a thing's manufacture articulating itself. A reminder of the ephemerality of all things, and a dark proposal for our frail human futures.

Phillip Birch, (b. 1978, Detroit, MI) received his BFA from the College for Creative Studies, Detroit. Recent solo exhibitions include Entering God Mode at Essex Flowers, NY and Master Dynamic: Frontier at Lyles and King, NY. He also recently participated in NY's Sculpture Center's annual InPractice open call juried exhibition Fantasy Can Invent Nothing New. Birch is adjunct professor at The City College of New York, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Alex Bunn, (b. 1975, London, ENG) lives and works in London and Oslo, NO. His first institutional solo show opened at Trafo Kunsthall, Oslo in 2016 to national critical acclaim. Previously, his work has been exhibited at the Frieze Art Fair, The Royal Institution, and the Victoria and Albert museum in solo shows in London, Oslo, and Oakland as well as group shows in London, New York, Stockholm, Oslo, and Tokyo. His work has also appeared in Aesthetica, I-D, and Nature, among others.

Nathaniel Lieb, (b. 1963, Boston, MA) received his MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College, NY and his BFA from Syracuse University. Exhibitions include Morongo: AZ West's, High Desert Test Sites, Joshua Tree CA, Governors Island Art Fair, Governors Island NY, Gimme Shelter: Woodstock Birdcliffe Guild, Woodstock NY and IN-SITES: the intersection of art and architecture, South Orange. He was most recently artist in residence at Amherst College, MA.

Maya Manvi, (b. 1987, Los Angeles, CA) works with sculpture, text, and moving image. Their works have been exhibited in San Francisco, New York, and elsewhere. They are currently co editing/curating a year long archiving project of OUT/look an intersectional 1980's queer publication, that will be exhibited in October of 2017. Manvi received an MFA in sculpture from the Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT in 2014 and a BFA from UC Santa Cruz, CA in 2009. They are a visiting professor of Sculpture at Caldwell University and lives and work in New York.

Deirdre Sargent, (b. 1985, Boston, MA) received her MFA from Yale University in 2013, and her BFA from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY in 2008. Recent solo and two-person shows include You Should Know When to Laugh at 315 Gallery, NYC, Island Girl on Video, AC Institute, NYC, and Mod Coms at The Art Center Gallery, MA. She is adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

On view by appointment through February 19th