endo/exo

source: denverpost

We look at art, but it rarely looks back at us. The viewer does all the staring; it’s a one-way street.

But Michael Theodore’s giant, lit-up installation “endo/exo” has eyes of its own, dozens of infrared sensors that work just as hard as anyone else who enters the front room at the David B. Smith Gallery downtown. You get the feeling it is watching you.

Step toward the 12-foot-high piece, or walk along its 28-foot face, and it reacts with determination, wands spin back and forth, lights change color, there are rumbles and clacks. It is an art machine, powered by the viewer, but it seems to have a mind of its own.

For his “circuit” series, artist Michael Theodore programs a computer to etch patterns in scrachboards.