Come experience David Coll's Word Search

Word Search
Friday, April 22, 2022, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
CNMAT
1750 Arch Street
Berkeley, CA 94709

Word Search is a pop-up exhibition with an ongoing reception from 7-9pm. Showings earlier in the day by appointment.

Word Search is an installation of lights, cameras, music, mirrors, and spoken word. It engages with possibilities of magic and invocation amidst the media spectacle of quotidian life. It playfully articulates a sort of collision between 'bored entertainment' and 'unfulfilling interactions' through sudden changes of social dynamics which result in stark transformations of space.

The installation has two states. In the first, the public freely explores the space, and their presence is felt. In the second, five willing audience members choose to participate as a group. Once seated, they are quickly taught the rules upon which their spoken word unlocks media and magic upon the space. Each of these performances lasts ten minutes, and they require five people.

This pop-up exhibition will take place in the main room, with an ongoing reception in the rear balcony. The public is welcome to enter at any point between 7 and 9pm. If there is a group performance taking place, we ask that you simply watch the performance (as if at a concert) before then engaging with the installation yourselves.

Group performances will occur every 15 to 20 minutes or so, as long as there are five willing participants.

Word Search was first performed as a culmination to an artist residency at Djerassi in February 2022.