Sarah Oppenheimer – Sensitive Machine • von Bartha

von Bartha Stories is sharing an interview with the artist exploring the key themes in Sarah Oppenheimer’s new solo show, ‘Sensitive Machine’, currently on view at The Wellin Museum of Art At Hamilton College.

Conceptually, the work explores how our actions – both individually and collectively – shape the space we inhabit, and how those spaces embody a constant state of flux. The work mobilizes group dynamics and engages the joy of improvised learning, bringing awareness to the collaborative experience of inhabited architecture.

SarahOppenheimer_WellinMuseum_2021_0V5A7115 — Sarah Oppenheimer: Sensitive Machine at the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo

by John Bentham.

SarahOppenheimer_WellinMuseum_2021_0V5A7056 — Pictured: I-142-03-70(2021), I-142-03-70(2021), I-132-03-50(2021), I-142-03-70(2021). All

works: aluminum, steel, timing belts, and existing architecture. Dimensions and duration

variable.

The exhibition is curated by Tracy L. Adler, the Johnson-Pote Director of the Wellin Museum of Art, and comprises four newly designed ‘instruments’ that build on Oppenheimer’s recent exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland; and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.

Created specifically for the Wellin Museum’s open-plan exhibition space, each of the four instruments is linked to existing lightning tracks and subdiving walls. As visitors manually activate these instruments, a choreography of spatial change is set in motion.

Watch the full video:

Sarah Oppenheimer: Sensitive Machine at the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, on view September 4 – December 2, 2021. Video by Brett Novak

Sarah Oppenheimer: Sensitive Machine at the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, on view September 4 – December 2, 2021. Video by Andrew Ina.