Artists Meet the Machine Age : ‘Veered Science’ in Huntington Looks at Relationship Between Humans, Technology

There’s more than computers and test tubes to the Huntington Beach Art Center’s new exhibition on technology and science.

Sure, there’s an interactive CD-ROM piece, a sculpted cyberpunk with a buzz cut, a bit of algae, big ant photographs and a journey on the Internet.

But “Veered Science,” which opened Saturday, is about the impact of technology and science on us humans; it, therefore, also contains myriad images of real people and deals with ethereal stuff that mortals are made of, such as emotion, memory and communication.

“It’s a balance of works that really are about technology” and science, and pieces that “re-humanize something that could potentially be very cold, something that controls our bank balance, for example,” says the exhibit’s curator, Marilu Knode.

Also the art center’s resident curator, Knode chose recent works by 16 artists, most from California. Many contemporary artists have exchanged paintbrush and clay for electronic tools of the information superhighway. But, she said during a recent interview at the center, much that’s produced is more technically than aesthetically compelling.

“I was looking for that combination,” she said, “where the art is really stimulating and gives you a lot to think about, but is also interesting visually or intellectually.”

Joseph Santarromana literally puts a face on technology with computer-generated self-portraits called morphs. For each piece in his “Body Landscape” series, he scanned into a computer an image of himself and a place, such as Big Sur or Lake Michigan, where he had a memorable experience. He then melded and manipulated the images to produce abstract, surreal prints, which he mounts in precious ornamental frames like those his grandmother might have used.

“He’s dealing with memory and loss and longing” for bygone people and places, Knode said, “but using technology to make these new images, which to me is really interesting.”

Alan Rath likewise demystifies technology, but he does so by exposing its “physical fact,” according to Knode, while using it to comment on the human condition.

Rath’s piece titled “Couple” is an electronic contraption consisting of two cathode-ray tubes--the picture-tube part of a television set--placed on a workbench a few inches apart, their screens face to face, as it were. One displays the image of a woman, speaking normally, the other the image of a man, talking at a much faster, more agitated pace.

“The way I think about this work,” Knode said, “is that despite all these tools of communication, you still have to deal with each other. There’s still a gap between people, and technology is not going to bridge it. You have to bridge it yourself.”

Like Rath, Tim Hawkinson and other “Veered Science” artists, Laurel Katz critiques technological and scientific advancement. Her installation, the first that gallery visitors encounter, imagines a sheep that has been genetically engineered as part of a scheme to produce wool sweaters without human aid.

The idea is that South American beetles--rather than paid human workers--will be placed on the sheep to knit the sweaters by following a pattern “engineered” into white spots on the sheep, thereby optimizing the manufacturer’s profits.

Of course, it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature, and the sweaters turn out with freakishly long necks or two neck holes.

Rodney Sappington likewise takes a swipe at technological advancement. His cyberpunk, a marionette meant to be part human, part machine (its wiring shows), is a “future super being.”

This “Cyborg Understudy” recalls works by early-20th Century artists, Knode said, who sought to capture the dehumanizing aspects of the Industrial Age when assembly-line workers, performing the same, simplistic task over and over, were practically reduced to machine cogs.

Knode hopes that the exhibit attracts scientists and techno-whizzes, who, she believes, will have insights that elude visitors who may know more about art.

“I like the fact that people can bring their own knowledge to this work,” she said, “in the way that we always bring our own knowledge to looking at artwork.”

* “Veered Science” is in Galleries 1 and 2 at the Huntington Beach Art Center, 538 Main St., Huntington Beach. Through Sept. 4. An outdoor installation by Linda Besemer and, in Gallery 3, “Fuzzy: Construction of Identity Within the Law,” which includes works by fine artists, forensics artists and prison inmates, are concurrently on view. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday, noon-8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, noon-9 p.m.; and Sunday, noon-4 p.m. $2-$3. (714) 374-1650.