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Greg Garvey
Cabinet of Wonders, Persistence and the Fugitive

2010

$16,800
£12,901.68
€14,785.16
CA$23,650.25
A$26,493.51
CHF 13,805.53
MX$323,166.11
NOK 175,436.65
SEK 165,424.26
DKK 110,352.41

About the Item

This flat file installation is a kind of Wunderkammer – a Cabinet of Wonder or Curiosity containing a small idiosyncratic collection of select wonders and oddities of the natural world. Each drawer contains displays of moving images of micro and macro-scale phenomena that persist, change and disappear over short-term and long-term time scales. Also known as a Kunstkabinett Peter Thomas1 declared these wonder rooms to be “a form of propaganda.” These displays became increasingly popular in the renaissance among sovereigns and nobility demonstrating wealth, power, influence, and man’s dominion over the natural world. At a time when categorical boundaries between science and art were undefined, “The Kunstkammer was regarded as a microcosm or theater of the world, and a memory theater. The Kunstkammer conveyed symbolically the patron's control of the world through its indoor, microscopic reproduction.” 2 This cabinet of Persistence and the Fugitive while displaying the results of scientific observation, big data and technological advance reveals a world that eludes control and will persist beyond the Anthropocene. Greg Garvey, MFA, MSVS is the Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts and also serves as Director of the Game Design and Development Program at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. After finishing his Masters of Visual Studies degree at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at MIT Greg Garvey worked at Parker Brothers and later Spinnaker Software developing mass market and educational games. In his own art practice Garvey saw the emerging possibilities of an art of interaction facilitated by computer control. Garvey has continued to design interactive computer-based installations such as the Automatic Confession Machine–A Catholic Turing Test that have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the U.S., Canada, Europe and elsewhere in venues such as the Landesmuseum in Linz, Austria; the Victoria and Albert Museum in London or at Tech Fest in Delhi, India. Previously at Quinnipiac University he was the Visiting Fellow in the Arts and also was an Associate Artist of the Digital Media Center for the Arts at Yale University. Prior to joining Quinnipiac University, he was Chair of the Department of Design Art at Concordia University in Montréal and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Montreal Design Institute. From 1983-85 he was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT. 1. Peter Thomas, "Charles I of England: The tragedy of Absolutism", A.G. Dickens, ed. The Courts of Europe (London) 1977:201. 2. Francesaco Fiorani, reviewing Bredecamp 1995 in Renaissance Quarterly 51.1 (Spring 1998:268-270) p 268.
  • Creator:
    Greg Garvey (American)
  • Creation Year:
    2010
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 26.5 in (67.31 cm)Width: 26 in (66.04 cm)Depth: 26 in (66.04 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    this cabinet consists of 6 drawers, each containing a video screen w/the animation running on each screen.
  • Gallery Location:
    Darien, CT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU17221744833

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