Visual Art Review: Laurie Frick’s “What did you do today?” at Ivester Contemporary
Data-driven works present art and technology with hope for connection
By Cat McCarrey, Fri., March 15, 2024
Austin is broken.
Or at least, divided. The eternal battle between the artistic soul of the city and the evil tech companies infringing on Austin’s delicate weirdness reigns supreme. But these opposing concepts find harmony in the work of local artist Laurie Frick. After nearly a decade away from formal exhibits in Austin, Frick returns with “What did you do today?” at the Ivester Contemporary. It’s a sign of her personal progression, a new movement in her data-inspired art.
Traditionally, Frick creates captivating geometric artwork based on information pulled from open-source databases like ATUS (American Time Use Survey) or MTUS (Multinational Time Use Study), sites that are overwhelming in the amount of time-based information drawn from random samples. Seriously, you could fall down an internet hole for days mining the richness of those charts. After years working within technology companies, Frick sees the possibility in cold facts and statistics reflected through pixels. She’s richly aware of the humanity behind the numbers. “Your data is like your DNA,” says Frick when asked about her approach. Her artistic philosophy views patterns revealed in data as a language, reflecting the distinct individual behind the screens.
That human is precisely what Frick’s work reflects. It’s how she bridges the art/tech dichotomy. Whatever data she exhibits – money, music genres, walking routes – gets translated into shapes with a specifically chosen color palette. Frick gravitates toward natural tones and materials, giving warmth to what could otherwise seem coldly detached. Hues pop in dusky rose, moss, and bursts of inviting cobalt. They radiate off thickly fibered paper or, in a notable gallery debut, kiln-fired glass. After listening to Frick’s views on data, it seems she’s imagining a wondrous future. (Her passion and knowledge make her March 23 artist talk at Ivester an essential event.) To her, the expression of data radiates with the potential for beauty, personal tracking that could spark individual expression instead of a darkly encroaching Big Brother vibes. It’s more like the recognizable future of Her than the chrome dream of The Matrix. A bright and hopeful future instead of a chilling tech dystopia.
“What did you do today?” diverges from Frick’s previous art in one key matter: It’s not directly translated from existing datasets. Instead, it’s the “conceptualization” of a day. Twenty-four hours is like a perfect painting to Frick, a time span canvassing the good, the bad, and the wide-open spaces. So no, her “Time Division” pieces are no one’s time at all. Instead, they should spark a familiarity of what our time could be. They’re an approximation, an impression. The uneven rectangles, demarcated with dark shaky lines and colored blips, should tug at the viewer’s brain as a recognizable rhythm. They could mark out my day. Or yours, or your friend’s, or so on. At least, that connection is what Frick hopes for. The exhibit’s labels and gallery notes are purposely obtuse, saying the works are data-driven but declining to offer more information. It’s purposefully left up for interpretation. For Frick, “it’s better if you just imagine what it could be.”
There’s plenty of scope for the imagination. Tucked in a corner of the Ivester, the exhibit feels like a subtle, secret revelation for those who seek it out. There’s the immediate reward of the title piece, What did you do today?, a massive grid of 25 glass squares that fill an entire wall. The clustered vibrancy of blues and oranges demands attention, begs for exploration of every unique pane. The other pieces, a mix of glass and watercolored paper works, are variations on the title “Time Division,” each piece adding details on colors, patterns, or activities. These works don’t immediately overwhelm the viewer. Instead they’re the delicious afternotes of the exhibit, the delicate touches that pack a punch for those who stop and savor.
Looking at Frick’s work, particularly after hearing her wax poetic about the possibilities in the datasphere, I’m almost convinced that data and art can coexist. At first glimpse her charts seemed cold, the lines rigid markers of commodified time. But now? Now I notice the lively movement of the glass powder lines connecting each colored pane. I delight in the smooth matte finish where those kiln-fired panels were sandblasted to create an even more cohesive vision. Frick took something separate and made it whole. And perhaps, just perhaps, Austin can do that too.
A reception and artist talk with Laurie Frick takes place March 23, 6:30pm, at Ivester Contemporary (916 Springdale, Bldg. 2 #107).
“What did you do today?”
Ivester Contemporary
Through April 13
