Skeleton Keys

Junk drawers filled with things like extra keys are the packrat middens from which future generations will reconstruct our society. Archaeologists yet unborn will assign totemic significance to this folderol and they won’t be far wrong. After all, unless you’re a time traveler, why hold on to so many old...

By Nicholas Gerbis

December 30, 2010

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Junk drawers filled with things like extra keys are the packrat middens from which future generations will reconstruct our society. Archaeologists yet unborn will assign totemic significance to this folderol and they won’t be far wrong. After all, unless you’re a time traveler, why hold on to so many old keys?

Keys conjure feelings of secrecy and security; they evoke deeper issues of trust, sharing, and emotional connections to places and things -- all of which makes them the perfect medium and subject for “Unlocking” by Jean Shin and Brian Ripel. Known for their work with discarded items – from plastic prescription bottles to losing lottery tickets – the artists here use brass, nickel, and steel metaphors by the truckload to construct paintings, sculptures, and video projections. In some cases, they even mimic local topography.

Wednesdays-Sundays. Starts: Oct. 9. Continues through Jan. 2, 2010

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