July 2—Mike Dee
PØST is pleased to present Hovering, an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles artist Mike Dee. Hovering is his second exhibition with PØST.
Dee’s recent body of work ponders the influences of white noise and environmental interventions on the hummingbirds of Tujunga Canyon.
In Hovering, Dee will be exhibiting photographs, sculpture, and audio, as well as performing with Anders Lansing as part of the collaborative music collective, Surprise.
The show juxtaposes a sense of balance with a sense of loss.
As hummingbirds are attracted to bright flowers and vibrant feeders, the viewers in the space will be drawn to the highly decorative photos and sculptures of the floating hummingbirds as well as to the atmospheric and calming 17 track hummingbird audio piece.
The photographs revisit the La Tuna Canyon Wildfire and its aftermath, while the musical performance will mimic hummingbird sounds at great volume, exposing viewers to bewildering white noise. Although Dee used advanced digital techniques to make his photographs and audio track, Surprise will be using analog effects, electric guitars, and tube amplifiers to recreate the sounds of the tiny birds in their performance.
The goal of the exhibition is to invert the plight of hummingbirds and humans.
The show questions whether people could experience the sound-related stress and anxiety that some theorize has developed in the canyon hummingbirds due to their exposure to the white noise created by helicopters, planes, fire trucks, and bulldozers. By creating distorted sounds reminiscent of bird songs, beating wings, territorial outbursts, and mating calls, Surprise will transform the gallery’s outdoor hallway into an anxious space. This experiment may contribute to a greater understanding of decreasing hummingbird populations in Tujunga.
Have the hummingbirds not reproduced as much, or are they simply staying away from the area due to the intensity of the fire and the fight against it?
There will be a reception for Mike Dee's Hovering exhibition at PØST on Monday, July 2, 2018, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The exhibition will remain on view until July 2, 2018.
Dee has exhibited in Japan, England, France, Mexico, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, at galleries including Gagosian Gallery. His work has been written about in The New York Times, The LA Times, Vice Magazine, White Hot, Artillery Magazine, Art Papers, Artnet, The Village Voice, Zing Magazine, Art Review, Art Week, and Dialogue. He has been the subject of documentaries done by LAartstream and EMS. Dee has pieces in the collections of The Weisman Collection, The Long Beach Museum, Perez Art Museum, and Western Bridge Museum.
