By Kirstin Ohrt
Department of Art & Archaeology
Josephine Meckseper’s exhibition Scenario for a Past Future welcomed a cross-section of the Princeton community into a space charged with electronic sound, projected images that filled opposing walls, and one dynamic digital painting anchored between the two. The imagery is reminiscent of Meckseper’s well-known vitrine installations with an assemblage of objects inside glass walls. But this time, the vitrine is life-sized — and we’re in it.
In its 20-year evolution, Meckseper’s vitrine concept has taken a leap with this iteration in Hurley gallery. “Conceptually this work is interesting because, for the first time, I’m letting the viewer inside the vitrine,” said Meckseper. “They are now no longer separated by the glass but eye-to-eye with objects and they can literally walk through them because they are outside the laws of physics.”
We share the space with an avatar whom we guide using a keyboard; with the avatar we can opt to investigate a sparse collection of life-sized modernist sculptures that regularly shatter and recompose, scrutinizing the reflecting chards as we pass through them, or we can cast our gaze across the jagged Alpine backdrop that surrounds us. Among attendees were students who participated in the course Meckseper co-taught during her tenure as Belknap Visiting Fellow in the Humanities Council and A&A with Brigid Doherty in fall 2022, “Counterworlds: Innovation and Rupture in Communities of Artistic Practice.” Lane Marsh ’23 recognized the course’s central discussion of utopia and dystopia in the work.
Artist Josephine Meckseper. Photo by Jon Sweeney
From left: Lane Marsh ’23, Evan Haley ’24, Jeff Whetstone, and Josephine Meckseper in discussion and School of Architecture professor Spyros Papapetros at the opening of "Scenario for a Past Future." Photo by Kirstin Ohrt
Visitors discuss Josephine Meckseper's "Scenario for a Past Future" exhibition during the opening reception on Jan. 31. Photo by Kirstin Ohrt
A visitor uses a keyboard to guide an avatar through the virtual exhibit. Photo by Kirstin Ohrt
An avatar within Josephine Meckseper's "Scenario for a Past Future" exhibition explores the virtual space inside the vitrine.
"Scenario for a Past Future," an exhibition by artist Josephine Meckseper, on view at the Hurley Gallery. Photo by Jon Sweeney
"Scenario for a Past Future," an exhibition by artist Josephine Meckseper, on view at the Hurley Gallery. Photo by Jon Sweeney
Though the avatar immediately signifies virtual reality, Meckseper deliberately pulled the experience out of the headset. “I purposely decided to create a more analog installation rather than having the full VR experience because I wanted to counter the escapist properties of virtual reality,” she said. “Having this gallery installation creates a sense of de-fascination with the medium, and allows for a human scale immersive experience.”
The work is decidedly thought-provoking, occupying the past, future, utopia, dystopia, virtual and less-virtual reality. Among the multitude of possible interpretations, Meckseper added “We don’t know if the world under this crystal mountain is still inhabited.” The animated painting alludes to the future of technology in the post-human world. “It’s kind of a metaphor for the perpetual motion of automated digital information like spam emails,” she said. “It’s showing the ruins of consumer culture in a way.”
The exhibition is on view until February 22, with a panel discussion taking place on Tuesday, February 13, at 5 p.m.
