The Ruddell Gallery at Black Hills State University is announcing its upcoming exhibition “Desperate Remedy/Little Ones” by Chris Combs, artist-in-residence at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF). The exhibition will be on view from October 7 to November 21, with a public reception October 7, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Based in Washington, D.C., Combs’ work reimagines industrial and technological materials to question data, surveillance, and the environment. His recent exhibitions include “The Next Big Thing” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington Innovation Studio, “Outsized Effects” at Gradient Projects in Thomas, West Virginia, and “Industry Standards” at McLean Project for the Arts. Combs is a four-time recipient of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities Fellowship. He is a graduate of the Corcoran College of Art and Design and previously worked as a photo editor for National Geographic.
"Desperate Remedy/Little Ones” explores one of science’s most elusive mysteries, the neutrino, through interactive sculptures. “What is it like to hunt something invisible, omnipresent, and vanishingly tiny, which leaves almost no trace of its existence? I have to imagine it involves a lot of conviction,” said Combs.
Featured sculptures include the Hyperkinetic Resource Allocator, which allows visitors to manipulate sliders and alter videos filmed at SURF and in the Black Hills; Starstuff, a reflective installation combining video from Little Spearfish Creek with the viewer’s own image; and Whispers of the Early Universe, a sound-based work that translates recordings of quantum noise into an interactive experience. This exhibition bridges science and art, offering an imaginative lens on one of the universe’s deepest mysteries.
“Neutrinos were theorized long before we could possibly detect any trace of them. When physicist Wolfgang Pauli first realized that nuclear beta decay seemed to violate the law of conservation of energy, he wrote to other physicists—addressing his "radioactive ladies and gentlemen"—proposing a new kind of particle to explain away the mismatched math: a ‘desperate remedy,’” added Combs.