Erwin Redl, electronic tinkerer, reveler of '11.000.' code is now exhibiting at ACE gallery Beverly Hills. Redl works with LED light constructions to create large geometric 3 dimensional installations. He programs the LED's which are suspended in sequence by positive and ground wires or by metal rods or some other electrical conductor to change light intensity or color so that the pieces have a time based sequential quality, explaining why Douglas Christmas, gallery owner, saw fit to combine Redl's "Fade" whose giant cylindrical form carries an extra illuminated band of light around its circumference with a chamber group who performed a week before the opening reception.
Redl's pieces are labor intensive, requiring a crew of assistants to construct and test his installations and while the pieces are architectural and large, the parts of their construction are relatively small, delicate and unobtrusive. Simple weights hold the dangling strands of lights that comprise "Fade" in their places. Redl is very proud of the fact that LED's require a minimal amount of electricity to operate and is fascinated with the simplicity of his operations.
Redl is digital age artist and his great interest I believe is with technology, code, and the potentialities of a new medium, so it is strange and a bit of a compromise it seems that Erwin makes work that occupies physical space and operates under the conventions of the museum of yesterday. I found the materiality of the pieces to have potential in and of itself, but the concept with the light and the programming imposed upon the material wasn't fully intact enough to sell me. Instead I felt the blatant materiality of the pieces was denied in place of the illusion of light and transparency. It was bells and whistles, right at home in LA, the land of smoke and mirrors. I'd like to see the light mingle with the opaque physical a little more. Angels and shadows and overlords are no fun without men and women tto oggle them.
