White Columns Online #2:

Default Network

curated by Jamie Sterns

March 18–April 22, 2017
A rectangular white slab with slightly irregular edges placed on a gray surface against a dark background. There are bodily imprints on the slab, seemingly of a fist and an arm or leg.

Phoebe Berglund
Dance Document 5029, 2016
Photo on Metal Panel
8 × 10 inches
​Courtesy of the artist

David Robert Elliott_Image 2

David Robert Elliott
Untitled (I used to Believe that I Could be the Next Larry Bird), 2014
Archival Inkjet Print
16 × 20 inches
​Courtesy of the artist

An abstract work composed of sparse, hand-drawn markings and mounted sculptural elements on a wall, as well as freestanding sculptural elements that lean against the wall.

Clare Churchouse
Seven -1, 2016
Mixed media
71 × 80 × 7 inches
​Courtesy of the artist

A painting depicting three black, bare trees against a background of muddy pink and red sky, green mountains and gray earth rendered in brushy strokes.

Karen Barbour
No Sign To Us Earthlings, 2016
Flashe on paper
22 × 30 inches
​Courtesy of the artist

An irregular piece of canvas with black and blue line work patterns and black and green geometric elements on it, affixed to a white piece of fabric. The entire composition appears creased.

Osvaldo Cibils
artwork16march2016, 2016
Mixed media
210 × 297 mm
​Courtesy of the artist

An abstract sculpture composed of pieces of raw and painted wood affixed to one another to create a vertically rising form.

Leopold van de Ven
Party prior to the abstraction, 2014
Wood, papier-mâché, cardboard, metal sheet, paint
33 × 32 × 46 inches
Courtesy of the artist

Participating Artists

Karen Barbour
Phoebe Berglund
Clare Churchouse
Osvaldo Cibils
David Robert Elliott
Leopold van de Ven

Exhibition Description

Human beings are innately social. Our brains are the largest to body size then any other animal. Neuroscientists have discovered that when we are at rest our brains fall into a neural mode called the “default network.” This occurs when we are not doing an action, like catching a ball or assembling a bed. This default network mode is almost identical to how our brains operate when it is social thinking: thinking about other people and ourselves.

So when we are inactive we are essentially thinking about what the next social interaction will be. We are priming ourselves on how we will interact with others and how we will interact with them.

You are now reading this online. You are reading words that I wrote while you are somewhere. You may be at your desk, in the subway, or waiting for your friend to arrive. You are where you are and I am where I am but we are communicating in someway.

The artists on this registry are somewhere too. They are trying to communicate by leaving images on a site that acts as a virtual file cabinet. They have compiled these images so that they can be found. They want to be found. They are here in the world just like you and me.

This platform, like the world we live in, is mediated. We look at images online. We talk online. We text and look at others online. We produce our personas and brands online. What are the implications of all this mediation, all this methodology of presentation? That depends on intention. The translation of point A to point B is not merely a means but the entire thing. What is the ‘thing?’ The thing is the point of A to B. The purpose of why we want to get from A to B.

We are all singularly at point A. The means to getting to B can take the form of talking, looking, thinking, communicating and also through images and art.

Art is a hole in the lock that lets you see that there is a point B.

The images on this registry are not the end point; they are not the actual art or the actual person but they serve as stand-ins for the art and to the person. The selection of images you are seeing evoke this need to connect, albeit random and preliminary.

Does this process of being mediated mean that we are further away from each other? Yes. But it also means that we are closer, or can be. We are all trying to connect because we have to. We need to. It’s in our nature even if the paths we create to get to from A to B feels winding and distant.

Jamie Sterns is the Curatorial Director of Interstate Projects and works at NYU.

This exhibition is the second in a series of online exhibitions curated exclusively from White Columns’ Curated Artist Registry.

For more information: registry.whitecolumns.org

A rectangular white slab with slightly irregular edges placed on a gray surface against a dark background. There are bodily imprints on the slab, seemingly of a fist and an arm or leg.
David Robert Elliott_Image 2
An abstract work composed of sparse, hand-drawn markings and mounted sculptural elements on a wall, as well as freestanding sculptural elements that lean against the wall.
A painting depicting three black, bare trees against a background of muddy pink and red sky, green mountains and gray earth rendered in brushy strokes.
An irregular piece of canvas with black and blue line work patterns and black and green geometric elements on it, affixed to a white piece of fabric. The entire composition appears creased.
An abstract sculpture composed of pieces of raw and painted wood affixed to one another to create a vertically rising form.

Phoebe Berglund Dance Document 5029, 2016 Photo on Metal Panel 8 × 10 inches Courtesy of the artist (A rectangular white slab with slightly irregular edges placed on a gray surface against a dark background. There are bodily imprints on the slab, seemingly of a fist and an arm or leg.)

David Robert Elliott Untitled (I used to Believe that I Could be the Next Larry Bird), 2014 Archival Inkjet Print 16 × 20 inches ​Courtesy of the artist (A picture of a sweating young person wearing a tank top or jersey, with long blond hair tied in a ponytail. They are pictured from the shoulders up and appear to be running outdoors.)

Clare Churchouse Seven -1, 2016 Mixed media 71 × 80 × 7 inches ​Courtesy of the artist (An abstract work composed of sparse, hand-drawn markings and mounted sculptural elements on a wall, as well as freestanding sculptural elements that lean against the wall.)

Karen Barbour
No Sign To Us Earthlings, 2016
Flashe on paper
22 × 30 inches
​Courtesy of the artist (A painting depicting three black, bare trees against a background of muddy pink and red sky, green mountains and gray earth rendered in brushy strokes.)

Osvaldo Cibils artwork16march2016, 2016 Mixed media 210 × 297 mm ​Courtesy of the artist (An irregular piece of canvas with black and blue line work patterns and black and green geometric elements on it, affixed to a white piece of fabric. The entire composition appears creased.)

Leopold van de Ven Party prior to the abstraction, 2014 Wood, papier-mâché, cardboard, metal sheet, paint 33 × 32 × 46 inches Courtesy of the artist (An abstract sculpture composed of pieces of raw and painted wood affixed to one another to create a vertically rising form.)