Ornithologicalengineerology
New sculptures by Lars Chellberg
6 April – 6 May at Lance Fung Gallery, 537 Broadway
Reception for the artist: Thursday, 6 April, 6 – 8 PM
Ornithologicalengineerology, a solo exhibition of new work by Earth/Installation artist, Lars Chellberg, opens April 6th at Lance Fung Gallery. In his current exhibit Mr. Chellberg explores the future effects of man’s intervention and interface with ecosystems and their various species.
Building on the success of his first solo exhibition, By Force of Habit, also at Lance Fung Gallery, Mr. Chellberg advances an ongoing investigation between science and the natural world. Previously known for introducing hundreds of live crickets into his work to create unique sound sculptures and for entering into collaboration with giant live spiders to produce ephemeral spider-web-drawings, in the present exhibit Chellberg forshadows particular results of humanly engineered ecosystems. With the decisive hand of an architect and the sensitivity of a naturalist, Chellberg manufactures the future of bird nests. Similar to Gordon Matta-Clark who designed pop-up houses, tree houses and other alternative housing, Chellberg creates nests for the genetically engineered bird.
Mr. Chellberg’s nests are made from architectural model building supplies representing the standard skeletal material in I-beams. Constructed by the artist as if he were a genetically engineered bird, the I-beams come together in a seemingly haphazard fashion – yet the nests they structure are sturdy and ready for habitation. In tandem with his synthetic nests, the artist displays collected nests from a natural forest to further illustrate the co-mingling of natural and human constructs. Mr. Chellberg suspends, rests and cantilevers all the works outside the gallery’s windows contrasting with the backdrop of Broadway’s 19th century building facades.
The gallery’s main exhibition space, which typically houses monumental and ambitious installations remains virtually empty. In Chellberg’s void hangs a single swing which he makes beckon viewers to use, while a symphony of sound plays birdcalls ironically electronic in origin. Will the design of species lead to the need to engineer environments to accommodate biological species’ humans have created? How will genetically designed species’ accept transition to wild existence? What will a projection of the world, fully re-created, and under our necessary stewardship, look like? Lance Fung Gallery, Lars Chellberg and Ornithologicalengineerology attempt to open a space for these considerations and inspire further investigation.