GEOHAPTICS: Sensing Climate

February 17, 2024 – May 18, 2024

February 17 – May 18, 2024
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, February 17 | 6-8pm
PERFORMANCE: Mitsu Salmon, Saturday, February 17 | 6pm

516 ARTS presents Geohaptics: Sensing Climate, a group exhibition uniting poignant works from artists who enact a somatic, empathic collaboration with the Earth using the senses, heart, and mind. The title of this exhibit combines “geo,” meaning earth, and “haptics,” referring to the sense of touch. The word “haptic” derives from the Greek word haptein, meaning “to fasten.”

Curated by artist, writer, and educator Daniela Naomi Molnar, Geohaptics: Sensing Climate features national and regional artists that include Athena LaTocha,  Mitsu Salmon, Beili Liu, Ella Morton, Alexis Elton, Jason Francisco, Carol Padberg, Jonathan Marquis, Heidi Gustafson, and Sarah Gerats. Artworks range from investigating the Arctic region to New Mexico’s atomic histories, expressed through organic sculptural forms, video, performance, paintings, photography, and multimedia installation.

Living in the midst of the climate catastrophe, how can we refuse despair and apathy? How might we turn this planetary pivot into a portal to new and better human natures? These questions and more are presented and explored in the exhibition, which hosts a series of public programs (more to be announced soon) engaging sensory experiences and poetic responses to a rapidly changing world.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS:

OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE: Mitsu Salmon – Saturday, February 17, 2024, 6pm 
Mitsu Salmon engages with her installation, Somatic Tracing, activating sound and movement in a special performance that launches the exhibition’s opening reception.

516 WORDS: Live Poetry with Mei-mei Berssenbrugge & Sawnie Morris – February 22, 2024, 6-8pm
Acclaimed award-winning poets Mei-mei Berseenbrugge and Sawnie Morris share their work in an evening of powerful, poignant live reading. Identified as a key element to engaging with the exhibition by curator Daniela N. Molnar, Berssenbrugge and Morris’s moving work accentuates the themes and methodologies explored in Geohaptics: Sensing Climate.

WORKSHOP: Exploring the Myth of Separability with Carol Padberg – Thursday, March 21, 2024, 6-8pm
Carol Padberg's installation Mess Kit for Settlers addresses the Myth of Separability through poetic and practical means. The Myth of Separability resulted in the notion that humans are separate from nature. Join the artist for an evening of restorative exercises, activities, and games that help people reconnect with the natural world. These "re kinning" activities will include making calendula salve, a skin lotion; playing the Kin Cards card games; enjoying relaxing somatic exercises; and learning about regenerative walking practices.

Curator Tour + Talk:  Daniela Naomi Molnar & Emily Eliza Scott – Saturday, April 6, 2024, 2-4pm
Join us in this guided tour from Geohaptics curator, Daniela Naomi Molnar, as she shares insights and processes behind the work featured in the exhibition. Following the tour, Molnar will be joined by interdisciplinary artist and scholar, Emily Eliza Scott, for a discussion and audience Q&A.  

Taking Action with Conservation Voters New Mexico + Poetry Reading with Ryan Dennison and mai c. doan – Saturday, April 20, 2024 2-4pm 
Do you want to learn how we can make a difference? Do you want to learn about New Mexico's most pressing environmental issues, and what is being done to solve them? Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) is New Mexico's oldest statewide, nonpartisan nonprofit that is committed to connecting the people of New Mexico to their political power to protect our air, land and water for a healthy Land of Enchantment. CVNM Advocates will discuss our most pressing environmental issues, what people are doing to solve them, and ways you can join in the effort to help build a cleaner, greener future for New Mexico. A live reading by local poets Ryan Dennison and mai c. doan will kick off the event held in the 516 ARTS gallery space.

EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOP: Printmaking Weekend with Working Classroom – April 26-28, 2024, 5-7:30pm
This workshop is a collaboration between 516 ARTS and Working Classroom in downtown Albuquerque. The weekend-long, multi-venue workshop will be geared to families in the Albuquerque community. The workshop will make use of WC’s antique print-making equipment bringing traditional techniques into the present day. 

WORKSHOP: Earth Pigments as Ritual Practice with Heidi Gustafson – Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 10am-1pm 
$15 General, $10 Members (Limited Availability, 15 Guests)
Join artist and ochre specialist, Heidi Gustafson for a workshop introducing the creative power of natural earth pigments. She will introduce how to conduct artistic research into pigments from local places, how to work with foraged rock and soil materials carefully and respectfully, and how to ritually engage earth pigments (or not) so as to try to support and benefit Earth and fellow creatures at this powerful moment in time.

PUBLIC FORUM: Art as Eco-Activism – Thursday, May 16, 2024, 6-8pm
Geohaptics: Sensing Climate closes with a panel discussion involving a selection of artists included in the exhibition with curator Daniela N. Molnar. Heidi Gustafson, Jason Francisco, Sarah Gerats, and Carol Padberg will discuss the themes of the exhibition and their process, and how ecological activism can be exemplified by and through art.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

This project is also supported in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as the VIA | Wagner Incubator Grant Fund, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the PNM Fund.