Soap Factory Hosting Art(ists) On The Verge

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Soap Factory has been pushing artistic boundaries as an art gallery in the St. Anthony Main neighborhood in Minneapolis for the past 25 years.

True to form, their new exhibit "Art(ists) on the Verge 5" is a program that features five Minnesota artists and their non-traditional installations.

"'Art(ists) on the Verge' is interactive. It brings audiences together directly with artists," Soap Factory program manager Lillian Enger said. "And it also allows artists to use the Soap Factory space, which is a very large gallery space, and our network and support structure for working with artists."

Emily Stovers' installation "General Delivery" spans the space, and speaks to the way we communicate as a society. Visitors write a postcard to anyone past, present or future, then drop it into a bin that digitizes it. Another part of the installation has visitors dressing in cloaks, looking for scan-able boxes to reveal the messages.

"It's about the physical movement of information through space, whether it's actually mailing a postcard or an email -- the new ways we are sending information as we enter the digital era."

Alison Hiltner's project "Survival Tactics" is jellyfish-like tendrils hanging from the ceiling that buzz and move, and even appear to live.

"They're all sort of dancing with each other and communicating through the vibrations of the boards, which all have a different acoustic capacities," Hiltner said.

Peter Sowinski's "Autonomous" makes you the artist. People create whatever they want and it will be represented on a screen by, as Sowinski said, "videos that I've shot of actual still lives."

All the artists were selected from an open call for submissions based on their project proposals.

"Art(ists) On the Verge 5" runs through April 20. Artist talks are scheduled for April 12 and April 19 at noon. The exhibit is free to attend.