As in The Internet, So In Life: Pop-Ups

In the inaugural exhibition of Blue Box Gallery, temporarily set up in the Roger Smith hotel in Midtown, artist Gabriel Barcia-Colombo thinks outside the box while picturing him inside one. Evidenced in the show, “Nobody Leaves, Everybody Goes,” the Los Angeles-based artist mixes media to make his “video sculpture,” which is meant to demonstrate both the immersive and composite effects of social media technologies like Facebook. Often, as in the six video-channel  Animal Chordata (2010), in which six types of people from various demographics are stuck inside glass bottles like tiny Truman Show-like experiments. Separation Anxiety (2010, pictured left, courtesy the artist) is a video self-portrait, framed by a refrigerator. Maybe the cold air is slowing his molecules down so that you can get a better look. But while these images might be trapped, they’re not stagnant: “We will have a (surprise) interactive piece set up in the storefront, visible from the street,” Blue Box co-proprietor Karen Bookatz says, warning, “This will serve as your entree to the show.” For a gallery named for early hacking software, and a program that emphasizes “windows,” we’ll take that as a sign of big things to come.

NOBODY LEAVES, EVERYBODY GOES OPENS TONIGHT, 7–9 PM. THE ROGER SMITH HOTEL IS LOCATED AT 501 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK.