Frank Gillette’s Anthropic Blues

Entering Frank Gillette's Spectra Obscura at Microscope Gallery, visitors are greeted with a quiet blend of ambient soundscapes. Ambient recordings from Eastern Long Island's woodlands and beaches are woven together with percussive elements, melodic tones, and distorted electronics. The exhibition showcases Gillette's trilogy of three-channel video works, "The Symbiotic Blues" (2017-22), and is complemented by the ambient sounds throughout the space.

Since the 1960s, Gillette has been creating his unique ecological aesthetic, characterized by layered visual worlds, piercing video and media works, and Polaroids that delve into themes of disappearance, decay, and fleeting natural phenomena. The video "Symptomatic Syntax" (1981) presents close-ups of shifting aquatic environments, accompanied by the gentle sounds of running water and an intermittent voice-over from J.M.E. Taggart's 1908 book, "The Unreality of Time."

Notably, the "Chthonic Chimera" series (1987) features large-format Polaroid prints displaying intricate, painterly arrangements of organic matter, such as tree bark, flower petals, small animal skulls, and various shells. Gillette's "Symbiotic Blues" series (2017-22), composed of "Riverrun" (2017-18), "Spearlight" (2019), and "Blackseer" (2022), investigates Eastern Long Island's fragile habitats and marine life through a framework of "still life, landscape, and counter-statement" in their three-channel video format.

As one navigates the gallery, thoughts of Anna Tsing's "The Mushroom at the End of the World" and the enduring sense of crisis in the modern era resonate. Spectra Obscura offers an intimate yet expansive exploration of our planetary plight, highlighting Gillette's unwavering dedication to confronting the environmental challenges that plague us. The exhibition runs through October 17 at Microscope Gallery (527 West 29th Street, Chelsea, New York).