The “uncanny valley” is a term used to describe the unsettling feeling you get when looking at a robot or computer-generated image that resembles a human so closely that it grosses you out or scares you just a little. Like those computer games where you can’t tell if it’s an actual human on the screen for a split second.
Wave Pool’s The Uncanny Valley explores this feeling of unease with curator-in-residence David Corns, who has taken the work of artists, fabricators, musicians, designers and architects to ask: “Can (we) use the effect of uncanniness to address current issues of everyday life, whether they be social, political, or economic, to unveil something new that would otherwise go unnoticed or be unattainable by other means?”
Instead of being repulsed or fetishizing otherness, can this valley reveal the “hybridity” and “ambiguity” of the world?
Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Saturday (June 7). Through July 27. Free admission. Wave Pool, 2940 Colerain Ave., Camp Washington, wavepoolgallery.org.
