(Not So) Light on Beauty

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Before pursuing an art career, Jim Campbell studied electronics and mathematics--seemingly dry topics for an artist whose work so elegantly represents the human experience of time, space, and corporeality, but Campbell makes them shine. In recent years, the San Francisco-based artist has become highly regarded for his video installations, digital photo collages, and sculptural works employing custom electronics, especially his LED pieces. The latter convey dynamic, complex images in a very minimal number of 'pixels,' or individual lights, making a statement about the limited amount of information needed by the mind, to perceive an image. Campbell recently installed his first New York show of his newer installation pieces, at Hosfelt Gallery. Open through October 28th, the show--entitled '4300 Watts'--points to Campbell's ongoing 'distinction between the analogue world and its digital representation as a metaphor for the human ability for poetic understanding or knowledge as opposed to the mathematics of data.' Equally poetic is the artist's ability to push the visual language of math and movies, alike, into beautiful new domains. - Marisa Olson