C. Spencer Yeh sees the world from a slightly different angle. The latest example of the 34-year-old Cincinnati-based multimedia artist’s unique vision is on display via Standard Definition, an exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center that’s anything but standard.
Occupying a slender hallway on the CAC’s second floor, Yeh’s first solo museum exhibition features three works, all of which are fueled by his longtime preoccupation with sound and image and the various ways the perception of each can change in different contexts.
The first piece consists of a pair of videos projected in a continuous loop, with three cordless headphones available for viewers to listen to the accompanying audio. The second, and in some ways most striking, of Standard Definition’s three works is called “IMVIS: Infinite Modular Vocal Interaction System (Eliza Study No. 3),” which occupies the middle portion of the hallway. It features three randomly looped, 6-foot-tall images of Yeh’s head projected on bare walls as he delivers his signature vocal technique. The third and final work, “Au Passage,” is cordoned off in a dimly lit space at the back end of the hallway where only a white circular couch resides. Unlike the other video-incorporated works, its lone media entity is a manipulated audio recording taken from a live show Yeh did with New York artist Amy Granat at Paris Café in 2007.
The show is up through Jan. 24. Read Jason Gargano's interview with Yeh and get exhibit details here.
