SUNY Broome Exhibit: Conformity Through Repetion

Have you checked out what's been going on at SUNY Broome lately?

There is an exhibit coming to the Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts Gallery, 186 State St., Binghamton. It's call "Direct Instruction." It's part of a group exhibition called "Salon,"  The exhibit will open this Friday, November 4th and remain through the rest of the year.

It was created by SUNY Broome Art and Design Adjunct Instructor Rich Harrington and Nick Rubenstein. "Direct Instruction" is a commentary on conformity and the loss of personal voice.

It uses materials from the Language Master speech therapy program, with culturally charged text used in elementary schools of the 1950s and 1960s.

The words, phrases, sentences presented on 252 cards mounted to a wall depict a particular time and cultural segment, specifically white suburban America of that era.

Silhouetted speaking mouths projected on the cards represent a white, middle class family: mother, father, son and daughter.

They are speaking the words from the cards, but their voices are silent, drowned out by the droning, hypnotic recorded voice playing in the background.

I think it'll also give us all a chance to see how much has changed in the last 50 plus years in our language.

[via SUNY Broome]