The Intervening Substance

No Place To Go Installation

NP2G Artist Statement: The Intervening Substance is inspired by ectoplasm, and the early mediums who produced it. Scientists captured mesmerizing photos of what looks like a cloth substance oozing from mediums’ bodies. One researcher explains “The color white is the most frequent.... it can seem soft and a bit elastic when it spreads;.... it gives the sensation of a spider’s web fluttering over the observers’ hand...The substance is mobile. At one moment it evolves slowly, rises, falls, wanders over the medium…” Mediums had power because they delivered messages from beyond. Humans strive for guidance, and acceptance from mysterious external forces. We not only pursue messages from the dead but also solicit advice from Artificial Intelligence, fortune tellers, technology, aliens, Gods, and even celebrities or social media. What do we give up when we focus our search for meaning and acceptance on distant external forces. This work is a response to the human search for explanations to our existence, and our desire to be accepted. It is not meant to condemn our search for meaning, but to question our process while creating a complex feeling of simultaneous joy and discomfort within the viewer.

Artist: Nicole Banowetz

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