"Threshold"

Photography by Julia Bruk


Threshold, by Allison Urban explores opposing epochs in human evolution, past and future, using architecture and language design to create an environment that at once feels archaic and futuristic. Drawing aesthetic reference from universally emergent patterns in our geological, biological and computational histories, Urban crafted a structure that seems to span from our earliest days as cave-dwellers, to the future worlds of our Utopian science fiction.

Lines of lights emanating from a hidden source wash onto the installation room walls, amplifying the geometric aesthetic of the two main structural components positioned on either side. The negative space between the structural components implies a pathway, heightening the viewer's natural inclination to investigate the source of the light. Urban utilizes this inclination, sending the viewer on an exploratory arc, ending with a reveal of the light's source as esoteric patterns.

Although written in an impenetrable language of light patterns, the series of backlit inscriptions seem to suggest an embedded communication system, a re-evaluation of our communicative origins, as if our early history was re-mediated through technology; a past future or future past. The overall result is a space that resonates with a sense of fractured temporality and esoteric acuity.

"Threshold" was completed for Urban's BFA thesis. It was on display last month as part of a student exhibition for the University of Washington’s
Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media.

Allison Urban graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Art and Experimental Media, where she studied experimental video, digital sound synthesis and mechatronics. She is interested in exploring the fusion of experimental literature, architecture and cinema in art and design.