Carl Berg Gallery presents Time, Space and Alchemy a group exhibition of artists who are exploring the territory where science and art merge, somewhere between the real and imagined. Artists are often the prognosticators of the future portraying ideas and concepts that at some point in time may come to be. Their creative minds work outside the established realms of science often opening up speculative possibilities.
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Carrie Paterson received her MFA from University of California, Irvine in 2001. Her newest work, the Strange Attractor project, includes several components: scented drawings, an illustrated book, handmade perfumes, and a series of sculptural works made of scientific glass. The project has involved research into glass blowing, organic chemistry, and the history of science and has culminated in works that are layered both conceptually and physically. The project continues her interest in exploring the boundaries between art and science, imagination and invention. At its core Strange Attractor is based upon a desire to model cultural paradigm shifts as they are mirrored in science.
Paterson’s central sculptural object in the exhibition is a nine-layer perfume bottle that functions as the primary demonstration object in this larger endeavor. This bottle consists of nine clear glass spheres suspended inside one another. Each separate orb contains an original perfume scent that is accessible through a separate shaft penetrating the different layers of the bottle. Ten additional, smaller hand-blown bottles, each with only one layer and a single different scent, are also included in this project. The vessels function as distillation devices, making it possible for someone to control the strength of any scent and its permeation through space. They integrate a "Snyder column" - used in chemical distillation processes - and are designed so that the surface
tension on the liquid coating the small Snyder balls inside the column allow perfumes to be stored without evaporation even without a tight fitting cork.
Viewers have the opportunity to smell the ten unique scents created for the project and at the opening a limited number of "Kemmer" testers will be given away so the audience might employ the scent in a distributed performance at a time of their preference.