6 October–6 December 2012
University Art Gallery
San Diego State University
Susan Hiller: Psi Girls will be presented at the University Art Gallery of San Diego State University from October 6 through December 6, 2012. Susan Hiller and John C. Welchman will be in conversation on Friday, October 5 at 6pm. A reception for the artist will follow from 7:30 to 9pm. The exhibition, conversation and reception are free and open to the public.
Describing her work as “paraconceptual,” American-born, London-based artist Susan Hiller combines modalities of conceptual art practice with investigations of paranormal phenomena. Her career-long interest in extra-sensory perception, telepathy, dream states and near-death experiences is evident throughout her media-diverse oeuvre. The influence of the inexplicable on the everyday finds particular expression in Psi Girls, a five-screen video installation comprising color-altered clips from five popular films of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. The mesmerizing sequences feature young girls and teenage women affecting inanimate objects through telekinesis and visual concentration. The resulting montage of cinematic imagery, unified by a single, pulsating soundtrack, focuses attention on the uncanny and unnerving power of female adolescents. As the title characters of Psi Girls exercise mind over matter to defy the supposed limitations of the physical world, so are they enabled by their intellect, imagination and desire to challenge the gender-based prejudice that persists in contemporary society.
Susan Hiller: Psi Girls is organized by Tina Yapelli, director of the University Art Gallery at San Diego State University. The exhibition and special events are sponsored by the School of Art, Design and Art History; the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts; and the fund for Instructionally Related Activities. Additional support is provided by the San Diego State University Art Council.
John C. Welchman is professor of art history, theory and criticism in the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego; founding director of the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts; and advisor for the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam.
Special events: Friday, 6 October, 6–9pm
Conversation with Susan Hiller and John C. Welchman: 6pm, Hardy Tower 140
Reception for the artist: 7:30–9pm, University Art Gallery
Hours: Mon–Thu & Sat, 12–4pm
Closed November 22–25 for Thanksgiving
The exhibition and special events are free and open to the public.
Contact: Tina Yapelli, 619 594 4941 / [email protected]