An art exhibition coming to the College of William & Mary is examining problematic elements of the relationship between human buildings and the natural world.
“Capitalist Architecture in a Posthumanist World” examines the decline of certain buildings across the United States — like decaying shopping malls — and how those structures fit into the surrounding environment.
The art exhibit is the brainchild of Lindsay Garcia, a doctoral student in American Studies at William & Mary. The show will feature works by 13 emerging artists, incorporating paintings, 3-D arrangements and other visual media.
The exhibition pieces will each explore relationships between humans, architecture and the environment, and how vacant buildings affect the surrounding landscape.
“Bringing together artists and scholars, we can imagine a more hospitable environment in which all species and ecosystems can survive ongoing challenges and injustices,” Garcia said in a press release.
Going along with this theme, the show is being held in Millington Hall, a partially decommissioned academic building on the William & Mary campus. The building is scheduled for demolition in 2016 to make way for the expansion of the Integrated Science Center.
Garcia said the location was fitting, as Millington Hall is currently home to multiple species, including humans and plants, and the exhibition itself will be held in abandoned faculty officers throughout the building.
The exhibition is scheduled to run from March 6-27. An opening reception is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. March 6 on the second floor of Millington Hall.
In addition to the exhibition, Garcia will present a research paper on the same subject at 8:30 a.m. March 21 at the William & Mary Graduate Research Symposium.
For more information on the exhibition, contact Lindsay Garcia by email at [email protected].
