Seth Clark + Jeffrey Smith: Proliferling

In Proliferations, Seth Clark and Jeffrey Smith present a world in a constant state of multiplication. Clark's collages and sculptures push architecture toward the improbable. Houses sprout unexpected extensions and repeated fragments accumulate. The familiar form is overtaken by forces that have a life of their own. Clark builds his compositions from scraps of paper or wood, using charcoal, pastel, and graphite to give the fragments a weathered appearance. As his architecture proliferates indefinitely, Clark's world challenges our perceptions. Smith approaches proliferation through the things that help us find our place in the world. His Bearings and Constellations series interweave natural materials with intricate beadwork to create points of reference. He treats bark and stone as cabochons, arranging thousands of beads around their surfaces into a network of relationships. Even as these relationships multiply, Smith's world has underlying order. As the world proliferates, patterns emerge that allow us to make sense of it.