Alan Rath: Irrational Exuberance

In his first solo exhibition at Hosfelt Gallery, sculptor and electronic art pioneer Alan Rath premiers a new body of work that challenges the distinction between animal and machine by utilizing feathers to transform aluminum and fiberglass into charismatic ‘beings.’ While robotics have been part of Rath’s vocabulary since the 1980’s, the inclusion of pheasant and ostrich feathers is an innovative evolution.

Inspired by the schematic (and sometimes frenetic) movements of Chinese folk dance and opera, Rath choreographs these sculptures with playfulness, grace, sensuality and occasionally, a sense of menace. Vibrating, spinning, waving and pulsating feathers also call to mind mating rituals of birds, tribal headdresses used in ceremonial dance, predators devouring their prey or sex acts.

Unpredictability is a key component of this work. As well as building the technology and each component of every piece, Rath writes the algorithms that animate them. The works do not simply ‘run in a loop’. The algorithms are open-ended – the sculpture modifies its own choreography. To a certain degree, the sculptures are autonomous. The more time you spend with them, the more you learn about their behavior and patterns, from which a sense of intimacy naturally develops. And like any relationship, there is the potential for the unexpected, no matter how well you know a person.

Refusing to mind their manners, Rath’s sculptures actively invade the space of the viewer, beckoning them to approach and then chasing them away. It’s not always clear that these pieces are harmless. One sculpture in particular – Forever – exudes the attractive but dangerous energy of a femme fatale – think Venus flytrap or Little Shop of Horrors.

Because these sculptures invite a deeper level of engagement, they problematize our relationship to them. Unplugging something to which you have developed an emotional connection becomes a potent and consequential act. As technology evolves, the once clear distinction between the living and non-living continues to blur, as evidenced in the work of Alan Rath.

Alan Rath received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1982. His work is in such major collections as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Hara Museum (Tokyo). Rath lives in San Francisco.