ACCUMULATE
Stacy Lynn Smith
11/19/10 - 12/19/10
Accumulate is an installation by Stacy Lynn Smith which focuses on the fragmented and limited nature of contemporary communication. The work is constructed of found posters, fliers, and postcards that promote creative endeavors. Although each advertized event will entropy, their mass is routinely renewed. What remains is the cyclical residue of the population from which it is rebuilt. Participants in this system must navigate the activity to attempt connection. The number of postings in an urban region is on such a scale and duration that traditional forms of historical account may be inherently inadequate. The tangibility of the majority of events will be lost, thus the scope as well. To confront the enormity of this information can only be experienced peripherally and partially, at the margins of comprehension. Smith proposes an alternate view to reconsider this often-marginalized information.
Accumulate is the culmination of research conducted from 2009–2010. The main installation consists of over 4,000 collected and sorted promotional materials donated by Portland, Oregon venues, galleries, performing arts centers, record stores, musicians and designers. Smith has utilized the unique configuration of the Vestibule gallery to reference geological sediment, timelines, and specimen sampling while creating a confining space to emphasize the scale of yearly ephemera production.
Smith works and lives in Portland, Oregon. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006. She has been working with excavated materials for over eight years and plans to extend the breadth of her projects in future installations. Smith has shown in group exhibitions at Gallery II (Chicago, Illinois) and the Bullseye Glass Resource Center (Portland, Oregon). More information on Smith can be found at www.stacylynnsmith.com
