Thin Places
SMART OBJECTS Landers presents Thin Places, an exhibition of works by Tania J Alvarez, Derek Paul Boyle, Alberto Cuadros, Coco Hall, Ann Hirsch, Brandon Drew Holmes, Faith Icecold, Cheyenne Julien, Pete Marsh, Keely Nelson-Rivers, Paul Rouphail, Michael Stasis, and Kelly Witmer.
5.6 – 6.11
Thin places lie on a threshold, often described as a holy moment conjured by a specific location or experience. But the site and the triggers of thin places vary for each person. Whether at a cavernous church, a winding river, a parking lot, or in the middle of a repetitive task, thin places seem possible anywhere, at any time.
Though potentially ubiquitous, thin places tend to occur at sites removed from society, locales where our ties to reality fall away, and direct experience becomes paramount. It’s in these settings where our minds fully open and regain their ability to encounter raw existence in it’s fullest, unfettered form.
Of all natural landscapes, the desert is perhaps the best environment to encounter a thin place. The silence, stone, sand, and cacti have a mysterious presence, like an expansive theater of timeless characters, posturing for our contemplation.
With the exhibition, Thin Places, a group of artists have contributed works that engage with the notion of liminal space in a variety of forms. Some pieces involve vistas, others psychopomps, and some everyday objects, but as a whole the show attempts to create its own thin place, within the expanse of the High Desert.
