Humans are a feeble lot. We rule over two worlds, the manufactured and the natural, but we understand neither: We’re as lost in the wilderness as we are in an operating system. The international touring group exhibit “Trying to Cope with Things That Aren’t Human” explores the rocky intersection of these two spaces, and our failures in both, with art that leans toward the wry. In Alan Currall’s video, Word Processing, a man tries to train a microprocessor like a dog. Mariele Neudecker’s Heaven the Sky features a stunning sculpture of an icy mountain range, with atmosphere, enclosed in a tank. Heather and Ivan Morison’s series, “Study for Earthwalker,” finds architectural forms drawn onto photos of animals, and Johanna Hällsten’s sound installation has someone teaching Chinese to a bird. Curator Ian Brown, for his part, offers us two cars, a real one parked outside the gallery and a replica parked inside. “Eventually I will rust and die,” the window sticker proclaims — a message that applies to everything and everyone, no matter which world they call home.
Jan. 22-Feb. 28, 2009
