The Department of Art at UNM is proud to share that Sarah Bennett-Davidson, an MFA student at the University of New Mexico, has been featured in a recent Albuquerque Journal article reviewed by Logan Royce Beitmen.
“Interference” at Bingo Art Studios and Gallery shows how ideas of the Light and Space movement remain salient for emerging artists. Rather than mimicking the polished “finish fetish” aesthetic, Bennett-Davidson embraces an intentionally raw, DIY approach that is conceptually rich. Using just two video projectors, hand-cut scrims, sound-responsive animations, and the environment of the warehouse, she creates an environment that distorts perception and transforms space into an interactive experience.
“What makes it new is its informality… this illusion of nonchalance is what allows Interference to surprise us,” Beitmen writes. “Because it’s only when our perception of reality distorts and the walls move and shift before our very eyes that the artist’s true brilliance is revealed.”
The work is rooted in avant-garde traditions while pushing their boundaries forward. Drawing from her early studies with choreographer Merce Cunningham, who collaborated with video art pioneer Nam June Paik, Bennett-Davidson brings algorithmic thinking and spatial choreography into her visual art practice. Her collaboration with the Berlin-based NODE Institute further explores computer-generated environments and interactive digital media.
The Department of Art invites everyone to experience “Interference” in person. The exhibition will be up until June 8, 2025.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
READ THE FULL REVIEW in The Albuquerque Journal, by visiting: https://abqjournal-nm.newsmemory.com/?publink=029e9e27e_134f9b8
Sabrina Carletti is an Assistant Professor of Art History whose research focuses on the interdisciplinary study of modern and contemporary Latin American art and culture. Her work explores the intersections of artists’ practices, literature, media, and the production of knowledge, rethinking how the conceptual terms used to describe artistic practice shape our understanding of what art does.
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