By Shirley Wilson
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

Sometimes everyday life absorbs us and causes us to lose touch with the passion that fuels the inner spirit-a spirit rejuvenated by the appreciation of the beauty that surrounds us in life and in art.

Stuart Larson creates abstract art from liquid products. Pictured clockwise from top left: Shampoo, Listerine, Milk of Magnesia, Body Wash, Chicken and Stars soup and Coca-Cola.
photos courtesy of Stuart Larson

Stuart Larson, assistant professor of graphic design, evokes the concept of meditative viewing in his digital art exhibition, Liquid Scans, at the Mercer Gallery in Rochester, N.Y., Dec. 3-20.

"When looking at art, most people take a momentary glance, but they do not take the time to absorb and comprehend," Larson said. "I want the viewer to leave the gallery with a brand new perspective."

The Liquid Scans exhibition blends Abstract Expressionism with Dadaism and Fluxus style by employing the concept of a massive canvas emotionally charged by the random, unpredictable beauty created through the fusing of diverse artistic media.

Through the scanning of everyday liquid household items, Larson has created 12 imaginative, digital abstract works. To begin the process of art making, Larson built a containment reservoir for the flatbed scanner. After overcoming technical obstacles, he completed 250 scans of 25 liquid items. From those, he selected 12 images from free-form liquid manipulations of shampoo, beer, body wash, Cascade, Coca- Cola, chicken and stars soup, Listerine and Milk of Magnesia.

"I come from a conceptual background," Larson said. "I'm fascinated by the process of making art but have never been content to take the tools at face value. The obvious is that the flatbed scanner is designed to take a photograph and place it on the scanner, but there is a whole other world of possibilities."

"I think it is a fantastic idea," said Matthew Linton, assistant professor of visual arts. "It's a wonderful post-modern, color-field painting experiment."

By giving everyday mundane objects like dishwashing soap an art form presence, Larson has subverted the object's original intent in our lives, Linton said.

Larson's interest in non-narrative art is connected to his desire to absorb the viewer in the sheer act of looking. With non-narrative art, viewing stimulates emotions free from conformity. In art school, he studied German philosopher Immanuel Kant's philosophy of beauty and Marcel Duchamp, a modern artist associated with the Dada movement. Larson said he is influenced heavily by both of these "thinkers." "Kant said that beauty is a universal truth that the refined person can appreciate," Larson said. "Duchamp said that an object is elevated to the status of art simply by choosing it. I am using everyday objects in an unusual way to bring out an uncommon beauty from within those objects."

Another influence in Larson's career has been video sculptor and avant-garde artist, Nam Jun Paik. Like Paik, Larson's work incorporates both art and technology. Larson, who completed a master's of fine arts degree, is active in the art community. His diverse studies include electronic media, video, computer art, desktop publishing, photography, performance, critical theory and gallery management.

"I am technically influenced by Nam Jun Paik," Larson said. "Through his work, he vocalizes a deep concept about the true nature of technology."

The gallery exhibition features 12 prints in black-stained wooden frames. The finished print size is 28 x 36 inches. Larson used innovative Iris printing technology for the digital images. Iris technology is a high-quality, light jet process that prints a digital image directly onto photographic paper.

A Faculty Research and Support Funds grant helped finance the project. The grant is used to support professional development activities by UH-Clear Lake faculty.

By allowing faculty members to work in their field of expertise, the grant also allows them to stay current with new technology and the ideas and concepts of their practice, Larson said.

"Getting the grant was a huge boost to my career as a practicing artist," Larson said. "For the first time, I am able to have a body of framed artwork that can be exhibited at different galleries and continue to have a life of its own. And every time I exhibit this work, there will be publicity for the university."

Larson will also give a series of lectures at the Monroe Community College in Rochester during the exhibition of his work. Once the exhibit is over in Rochester, Larson hopes to find a gallery in Houston to show the work.

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