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Carla Bengtson

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Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Sub title - media, date, etc.

For this exhibition a mid-winter gallery in Brooklyn was turned into a human-scaled vivarium, with a written response by Philip Scher.

Standing Out Blending In - "When to show and when not to show? What is the power of display versus the power of blending in? …Put a chameleon in New York and surround it with the stuff of a human world, an urban ecosystem, reflecting human processes and aesthetic choices. What are the options? How does it know what to display? What is danger or safety in this radical context? How is the biosemiotic system of the lizard disrupted by such contextual shifts and alien encounters? And after all the color shifts, which one is the real chameleon?" - Phil Scher

Phil Scher is an anthropologist, culture scholar, and a contributing editor and writer for Cabinet Magazine.

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copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm (Exhibition installation)

Exhibition installation, Gridspace, Brooklyn, NY, 2015-16

The interior and store-front window of Gridspace Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, was turned into a free-range winter vivarium for a chameleon and humans.

In collaboration with Dr. Peter Wetherwax
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copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Amilobe panther chameleon, UV lamps, warming lamps, foam, paint, mirrors, glass, video, tree branches, crickets, 2015-16

Chameleons communicate with one another by changing color. The gallery offered areas keyed to the chameleon’s most excited states. The lizard could access, and respond to, these areas via a network of branches. mirrored glass rocks provoked territorial displays, and foam rocks and heat lamps provided basking areas for human visitors..

In collaboration with Peter Wetherwax

Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Amilobe panther chameleon, UV lamps, warming lamps, foam, paint, mirrors, glass, video, tree branches, crickets, 2015-16

Chameleons communicate with one another by changing color. The gallery offered areas keyed to the chameleon’s most excited states. The lizard could access, and respond to, these areas via a network of branches. mirrored glass rocks provoked territorial displays, and foam rocks and heat lamps provided basking areas for human visitors.
Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Mirrored glass rock, plants, paint, 2015-16

In collaboration with Dr. Peter Wetherwax
Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Plants, paint, 2015-16

In collaboration with Dr. Peter Wetherwax
Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Foam basking rocks, 2015-16

Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Foam basking rocks, 2015-16

In collaboration with Dr. Peter Wetherwax
Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Mirrors, mirrored glass rock, plants, paint, 2015-16

In collaboration with Dr. Peter Wetherwax
Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

Becoming Colorful Becoming Warm

Video projection of human performing lizard territorial displays,mirror, paint, plants, 2015-16

In collaboration with Peter Wetherwax

Share

[email protected]

copyright 2019

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Becoming slidein
Sadakichi Award FInalist
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