Experimental Station – Caleb Charland

0cforeusend3.jpgAtomic Model, 2008

LABoral Centre of Art and Industrial Creation is opening today the exhibition Experimental Station which explores how art and impossible science draw together and intertwine. The show is remarkably interesting and refreshing even for someone like me whose job is to see art&science exhibitions, read (or even write) art&science books and discuss with the art&science crowd on a daily basis. It’s very garage science with artists i had never heard about before and others whose work i had only encountered in art fairs and small galleries so far. Proper report will follow shortly –it will be enthusiastic to say the least– but before i head back to Laboral for the opening performance by O Grivo, here’s just a few words about one of the works i discovered in the exhibition.

0-spheres-with-compass-penlight-and-drill.jpgFour Spheres With Compass Penlight And Drill, 2007

In his b&w series Demonstrations, Caleb Charland used everyday objects or materials he found in surplus and salvage yards to explore the laws and wonders of physics. The stupefying images are the only traces left of the many exposures, the long trials and errors the artist had to go through before he managed to make the perfect portrait of a physical phenomenon. The admiration for his tenacity and curiosity increases tenfold when you remember that we live in the age of photoshop.

0parkler-Through-Propeller.jpgSparkler Through Propeller, 2007

0bullecture-315.jpgBubble Contraption, 2008

0monstration-with-WD-40.jpgDemonstration with WD-40, 2007

0hree-Hundred-Matches.jpgThree Hundred Matches, 2006

0ooden-box-with-horseshoe-magnet.jpgWooden Box With Horseshoe Magnet, 2006

0ube_with_ruler_and_penlight.jpgCube with Ruler and Penlight, 2007

0aaaacaleb3.jpgDemonstration with Hair Dryer and Aluminum Foil, 2006

Raise your hand who’d like to try this at home now!

Estación experimental [Experimental Station], a coproduction between Laboral Centre of Art and Industrial Creation and CA2M Art Centre Dos de Mayo, remains open until 9 April 2012 at Laboral in Gijón, Spain.