Pittsburgh Cultural TrustGo to the home page

SHOW TITLE: Ultraviolet Acquiescence + Deep Space Drip Culture
ARTIST: Michael Oliveri
CURATOR: Murray Horne

Blinded by Science

Michael Oliveri constructs bizarre pseudo scientific installations. Looking like they are destined for a movie set or Disney’s Epcot Center, Oliveri’s ‘fake’ installations playfully evoke notions of a ‘mad basement’ scientific enquiry. Hydroponic towers grow tomato plants from seeds that once traveled in outer space, cascading neon-green waterfalls and streams flow under black light, and videos of surfers riding an eternal cosmic wave play with hyper reality. Oliveri, who often begins his research online, loves the ‘myriad of competing and contradictory narratives that exit simultaneously on the Internet and form a separate discourse.” Oliveri recognizes that the Internet is the ultimate equalizer, at once making it impossible to distinguish between credible and dubious information, both grounded in and outside current scientific practice and theory. Humorously, from specific scientific observations about Fullerenes, Hydroponics, and Sonic Growth, Oliveri makes the point that innovation often occurs not as a result of structured research, but of accidental discoveries.