Art Imitates Naptime

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More About

• Kaliisa Conlon
• Jen Cohen
• G. Cole Allee

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The word “hypnagogia” refers to the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep, and may be familiar to some readers of scientific or witchy sleep literature through the phrase “hypnagogic imagery.” These are images or auditory hallucinations that appear when we start to nod off: ringing doorbells, geometric tracery transmuting into static pictures, the occasional dancing gerbil. The Climate Curatorial Collective takes this as its starting point for a one-night group show called “Hypnagogia,” asking Bay Area artists to take their best shot at the sensory limbo state in question. The naptime phenomenon faces interpretation by artmakers working in a range of media, though the curators — G. Cole Allee, Jen Cohen, and Kaliisa Conlon — made sure to put an emphasis on sound art and live musical performance, staying true to the often aural quality of hypnagogic happenings. A few of the more sonic delights on offer include the Flip Quartet with Polly Moller (which involves musicians flipping things over while they perform), sound collage by AC Chuckwagon and the Individuals, and a video and sound performance by Vox Maids. The show uses the combined spaces of a theater and neighboring gallery, creating a surreal maze that imitates the flowing, liminal quality of the hypnagogic moment, a mysterious threshold ripe for the pondering.
Sat., June 27, 8 p.m., 2009