Curator's Eye: Wireless Connections

Selected by Joseph Miller, M-Space Glass Arts

Cell phone towers try hard not to be noticed, but Matt Johnson seeks them out. Using a combination of complex mapping tools and educated guesses based on proximity, Matt has endeavored to find each cell tower that connects him to every contact in his cell phone.

Matt represents each tower individually in an intimate portrait. But while the cell arrays stand alone, they imply the innumerable towers and communication devices linking us in an endless game of connect-the-dots. Matt brings unexpected efficiency to the portrait by presenting a tower as a metaphor for a person; each piece is a signifier for perhaps hundreds of individuals.

As much portraits of the atmosphere around the towers as of the towers themselves, the works offer a compositional simplicity that contradicts the complex nature of the subject. Sometimes jutting, sometimes sneaking into the picture plane, the towers take on distinct personalities. Are these the qualities of the tower or of the person they represent? — J.M.

Recently, I am finding myself compelled to draw cell towers. To me they represent individuals; collectively, they are everyone I know and everyone I have yet to meet. My reliance on the cell phone has led to a depersonalization of my relationships. It’s a convenience I’m addicted to and that has created distances I regret.  — M.J.

Array #26, 2007, graphite and watercolor on paper, 4 7⁄8 x 6 ½ inches