| Description |
Matthew Ritchie explores a self-created cosmological system through his work — an endless and complex landscape where various concepts can coexist. He draws upon a vocabulary of scientific notations, cartoon characters, mythology, biblical tales and pulp fiction to illustrate the workings of his alternate universe. At the core of Ritchie's art is "information," a sort of raw material from which all of his work evolves, as it is mapped and diagrammed through his own systems of color, line, paint, metal and light. Through Ritchie's incredibly detailed creations, viewers are engaged in his metaphorical search to determine man's place in the cosmos.
The work that lends its name to the exhibition, Proposition: Player (2003), is a unique game in which viewers throw dice on an interactive digital craps table to determine the history of the universe. As the game is played, animations are projected onto the table and a screen positioned on an adjacent wall. Throughout the game, various adjacent sculptural works are highlighted and visually referenced, depending on the choices made by the player. These sculptural works include The God Impersonator (2003), an enormous rubber floor mosaic that allows viewers to walk into the heart of the piece and a deck of cards featuring Ritchie's cast of characters; The Fine Constant (2003), a one-hundred foot long, map of the universe that literally comes off the wall winding around the viewer; and new characters in the form of sculpted heads which have been created by the artist in collaboration with schoolchildren. |