Triangle, Circle, Square
Triangle Circle Square was a multi channel collaborative video installation conceived by New York-based artists Andrew Brehm and Jennifer Lauren Smith. Three videographic vignettes, each depicting a geometric sculpture or shape inserted by the artists into a natural environment, play on the elements of chance in the attempt to collaborate with nature. Each forced juxtaposition of a man-made form and its corresponding element of air, land, or water also generates an independent instrumentation, so that the triptych of visual elements come together as if in a jam session or song. The soundtrack to the work is being developed with Brooklyn-based recording artist Luz Mob.
The project began when both artists attended fall session residencies in Nebraska. Smith, who frequently works in response to landscape and place, was interested in working with the frequent powerful winds ripping through the Great Plains. Brehm often collaborates with the elements and natural processes to create his performance and sculptural works. They worked together to create two lightweight cubes, painted to resemble dice, that blew easily across the farm fields. A severe drought year, the subject of gambling on the land seemed especially fitting to create the material for “square.” The work continued to develop when Smith & Brehm returned to Florida to include other shapes and environments. The artists worked with stunt water skiers to create pyramidal forms for “triangle” and infiltrated the feral cat colonies in Miami Beach with brightly colored spheres to capture the footage for “circle.”
The work was presented for the first time as a three-channel video installation projected onto multiple sculptural screens. The footage was arranged rhythmically, to emphasize the implied sound inherent to the movement and cadence of the image.
Andrew Brehm and Jennifer Lauren Smith
Triangle Circle Square
January 2016