Michael Theodore is a composer, sculptor, programmer, teacher and inventor all at once. He makes art that is technical, yet organic, approachable and interactive, like musical instruments. Some of it you can even play.
The centerpiece of his current show at David B. Smith Gallery is an eccentric installation of light and sound called “Supraliminal,” a word the dictionary defines as “to exist above the level of consciousness.” The giant work — 24 feet long and eight feet high — seems to be well-aware of anyone watching it. As you approach or back off or pass by, it alters the way it shakes, rattles and glows in yellow, green and purple hues.
It’s an experience that morphs every few days as Theodore reprograms the art machine’s complicated sensors and custom circuitry to keep things interesting. And, of course, it’s a blast to interact with at the gallery.
There’s a duality to Theodore’s work that makes it attractive. Nearly all of it involves writing computer codes that send signals to a CNC router which cuts and etches on command. “Subliminal’s” colors and sounds sit behind a giant black acrylic screen that has been hewed this way via lasers. This isn’t hand-crafted stuff.
Yet, there’s nothing removed about it. If anything, the piece comes off as a bit ramshackle, like a set piece from an early sci-fi movie that was made in the era before production values really mattered. The machine’s sound, for example, actually comes from chains rubbing against wooden boxes hidden behind the contraption’s front curtain.
Plus, Theodore pushes hard to mimic natural terrain. He borrows ideas of bioluminescence and echolocation from the animal world. And his programmed patterns that frame the object reflect the lines and shapes found on both flora and fauna. They appear to be abstracted from the scales of swamp creatures or the arrangement of leaves as they sprout from tree branches.
This earthy approach brings an organic strain to a body of work that might otherwise feel too artificial, and it’s on best display in a series of flat works hanging on the wall in the gallery’s back room. Here, Theodore has set his lasers on panels of wood and acrylic where they etch designs or apply paint in ways that evoke the veins of flower petals, the cracking of rocks and shells or, going deeper, the connectivity of living cells.
These works are rare and infinitely interesting. They are also — and this is a bright spot in the high-end gallery scene — affordable. The small ones sell for just $100 each.
It all comes together to speak in a language that is abstract and easy to like. Like nature, Theodore’s work is contemplative, but his high-tech edge makes the offerings a product of their time. He puts a lot of thinking into the way he aims his lasers and viewers can spend hours trying to figure it out.
Or they can appreciate its simple forms, or how much simple fun it can be to look at.
Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or @rayrinaldi
“SUPRALIMINAL“
David B. Smith Gallery presents recent work by artist Michael Theodore. Through Feb. 27. 1543 Wazee St. Free. 303-893-4234 or davidb.smithgallery.com
