In the Holocene, MIT

This week you have two excuses to go see MIT's "In the Holocene." I'm not sure you need an excuse with such a tight show, but you have two nonetheless. Thursday, at 6:30 pm, 16mm prints of Daria Martin's Soft Materials (2004) and Sensorium Tests (2012) will be projected in the Bartos theatre along with a dvd copy of Terry Fox's The Children Tapes (1974). This screening is one of the bazillion screenings that are programed to coincide with this show.

You also have a perfect excuse to see the show this Saturday: you can see it before engaging with our Panel on Community and Art in the Bartos Theatre at 5pm.

This isn't a real review of the show, so here is the TL;DR version, I don't think you should miss this show. The works included are varied and exciting in both meanings and historical interests. The 40 plus artists in this show are not just filler, they all tell a story. The connections drawn between the works are accessible without being patently obvious. In an era where everyone is a curator, this show separates the real curators from the tumblr users.

So you know, I too had to look up what the Holocene was before getting into it. The holocene is the geologic era we are living in. It's been going on for about 12,000 years, so you'd think it would be better known. The art on display "explores art as a speculative science, investigating principles more commonly associated with scientific or mathematical thought." It does this in a few ways, including themes of time, physical space, proportion, balance, and other observable phenomenon.