When characters visit the past in sci-fi flicks, they know not to change anything; otherwise they risk drastically changing the future. “The Butterfly Effect” art show is all about how people in the present can change the future.
The Harwood Art Center hosts “The Butterfly Effect” this Friday. The show features art inspired by everyday objects, said Vashti Moss, director of Youth Arts and Education. The butterfly effect refers to how a small variable can alter the course of your life, Moss said. The show is a chain of inspiration to continue long after the show.
“The idea is that it’s young artists and extraordinary artists showing their work together so they can be inspired by each other and inspire the audience,” she said.
Moss said the event features music from the Swamp Cooler Magnets and a movie made from old films layered onto each other.
Attendees can also learn about fractals, or infinitely repeating patterns, from Jonathan Wolfe, “the Fractal Man,” Moss said. He’ll be projecting fractals as well as leading “fractivities” for people to create fractals of their own. Moss said some homemade fractals will be hung in a mural to be completed by the end of the evening.
“It’s really like this whole cycle of what the artist’s life is,” she said.
The gallery space is divided into two shows, “Musings” and “Iterations.” The six artists in “Musings” range in experience from a M.F.A. candidate to internationally renowned artists.
“Iterations” features elementary and middle school artwork from Escuela del Sol Montessori students. Moss said the idea is to show everyone’s work as unique and equally valuable.
Rachel Cox, a graduate student featured in “Musings,” said she often uses toys and photographs in her art. She collects toys to tangibly preserve her memories and personal history because she doesn’t have any brothers or sisters, she said.
“When you have those added members of your family, they can help you recall memories and talk about stories from the past,” she said. “I don’t have any of that. I’m remembering these things on my own, so I get help from toys and photos and things like that.”
Cox said she grew up in the ‘80s when toys increasingly had electronic components. The Teddy Ruxpin bear was one of them, and she said she began obsessively collecting the bears from eBay a few months ago.
She altered the bear so the tape deck and other innards spill onto the floor. She said the technology has literally died, which reflects the death of childhood.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“By portraying these inevitabilities of age, fragility and decline through something as seemingly innocent as a toy, it helps me deal with these truths more easily and hopefully allows others to as well,” she said.
“The Butterfly Effect” is not just about inspiring people to nurture their creative spirit, Moss said. It shows how every part of our life affects us; everything counts no matter how small, she said.
“Every little something could have these massive effects down the line,” she said. “If you think about them as beauty, I think that’s what we’re looking at: all the different ways that people are creative in their lives, the ways that can affect the world and, I think, make it a better place.”
The Butterfly Effect
Friday, 6-8 p.m.
The Harwood Art Center
1114 Seventh Street N.W.
harwoodartcenter.org
