Past Exhibitions > Suspension Points a Communication between Students at Queensland University of Technology and Fordham University

December 6 – January 25, 2015
Reception Saturday, December 6th, 5–7pm

In an era when communication itself is undergoing radical reinvention, students from Fordham University (in New York City) and Queensland University of Technology (in Brisbane, Australia) have used different modes of correspondence—from the antiquated to the contemporaneous—to explore the vagaries of communication in contemporary life. Working across sixteen time zones, the equator, and two hemispheres, they have collaborated to produce works that illuminate the nature of meaning making in a communicatively embellished global realm. The title of the show, Suspension Points, refers to the three dots that appear when the recipient of a digital message is composing a response that has yet to be sent. Creating a sense of suspense by requiring the receiver to wait for the reply, these ellipses draw attention to the unpredictable and fragile process of communication.

The project began with students selecting the communication format they preferred to work in. Partners were then assigned based on their compatibility of choices, which included Instagram, Twitter, Skype, Facebook, email, postal mail, and message in a bottle. The resulting works are diverse in both medium and content, ranging from fantastical superimposed photographs and whimsical-yet-strange mobiles to handwritten love letters in black ink on black paper.

Across an ocean, some students became close to their partners; others strove for a connection that never materialized. Speaking to both the possibilities and limitations of the ways we attempt to make contact with others, Suspension Points marks a moment in time when distance seems both nominal and vast.

Artists:

Queensland University of Technology
Naomi Blacklock
Samantha Court
Jess Dudas-Bernal
Tayla Haggarty
Margot Kelly
Miriam Khalil
Bonnie Sturgess

Fordham University
Kate Doheny
Qinrui Hua
Alexander Jahani
Katherine Kusz
Tochi Mgbenwelu
Megan Scanlon
Samantha Smith
C. Sarah Strafford
Drue Thomas
Aubrey Vollrath
Abby Wilson

This project was organized by Mark Pennings, Senior Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology, and Casey Ruble, Artist in Residence at Fordham University.