Don't 'Mind the Gap' between talent and future potential in new Postcrypt exhibit

With an icy chill in the air, the basement of St. Paul’s Chapel seemed an inviting and warm place to seek solace. Opening Friday, Dec. 2, a show titled “Mind the Gap: Reflections on the Self,” located in the Postcrypt Gallery, aimed to explore the gaps between conscious reality and unconscious knowledge. Many media were used to explore this idea.

The first work is a series of simple photographs taken by Val Karusevich. The idea is an interesting one—she took photographs of what she saw over the summer, carrying a camera with her everywhere. Unfortunately, the photos lacks a common motif, leaving the viewer slightly confused.

Thaddeus Stephens’ work presents both talent and potential. His wonderfully exposed self-portraits are penetrating and poignant. The work is arranged well with a geometric shape, which allows each photograph to be appreciated as individual works. Stephens was clearly influenced by modernist photographers Man Ray and Bill Brandt, but his own style is forceful in his work.

Kat Balkoski, CC ’13, attempts to explore the idea of consciousness in the social networking era. As her statement in the catalog stated, the photos came from “skype, facebook, photobooth, iPhoto, youtube, capture, my current cellphone, my old cellphone, and a security camera in a midtown office building.” Although this is an idea that certainly has a tangible consequence to students’ Internet social lives, the various photographs do not posses enough inherent interest. This work comes across as a good idea yet not superbly realized.

Lindsey Filowitz also showed a thought-provoking idea in her work. Titled “No one cares more about the way you look than we do,” the work explored how much time and effort can be devoted to the changing of our bodily aesthetics. Filowitz’s are imbued with bright, almost obnoxious colors, which gives fairly everyday scenes a surreal air. Her work is reminiscent of Annie Leibovitz portraits in their slightly splayed version of a mundane reality.

The exhibition presents a fascinating conundrum of modern life, with most artists exploring those complexities to the best of their abilities. The show presented young artists who will develop over time to find their own artistic niche and seemed well on the way to doing so.