Overflow
OVERFLOW
Art Show and Collaborative Performance
Artists
Scott Polach | Keenan Hartsten | Preston Swirnoff
HOUSE SHOW - A SHIP IN THE WOODS
Location: 1660 Lugano Lane / Del Mar, CA 92014
Date: Friday August 22nd
Time: 6-10pm
OVERFLOW
Oh, Mr. Hatfield, make ‘em hum,
And let that welcome wetness come;
Stir those chemicals up again,
You need the money – and we need the rain
- by H.J.R, unidentified clipping, Hatfield Scrapbook, LA Public Library
A SHIP IN THE WOODS is proud to present, OVERFLOW, a selection of new works by Scott Polach. Drawing on the history of pulviculture – attempts to induce rain artificially – these works examine water in forms functional, sublime and absurd. Using the drawn-down Morena reservoir, once one of the largest in San Diego County, and a 1915 rainmaker’s flood at the site as an initial point of entry,
Polach presents multidisciplinary works that explore various facets and experiences of water. From a playful confrontation with water balloons on parched earth, to works dealing with the politics of invasive aquatic species, form comes together with wit to offer new entry points into California's conversation on one of the most severe droughts on record. The opening will include a collaborative performance – Very cool, and refreshing? – by Keenan Hartsten at 9pm.
Scott Polach (b. 1980, Hinsdale IL) earned a B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and a M.F.A. form the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2010 he was awarded a Graduate Fellowship at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito California, was an Affiliate Artist there in 2011, and participated in the Djerassi Resident Artist Program in 2013.
His work investigates how perceptions of ecological systems relate to the policies and practices that inform collective conceptions of nature. Using various methods, he investigates the collapse of idealized landscapes and is currently researching water use, politics, management and the history of conjuring rain in Southern California.
Polach’s work has been shown at The Oceanside Museum of Art, Helmuth Projects, SF Camerawork, Queen’s Nails, Adobe Books, the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, and the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art among others. Polach lives and works in San Diego, California. Polach’s work will be included in the upcoming exhibit, Hiding in Plain Sight: Eight Voices in Contemporary Photography at the San Diego Central Library Gallery in September.
