Manual or Automatic?

Chickens by left hand, squares by right hand, simultaneously, while wearing 3D glasses. Ink on paper, 22 x 17", 2010

Jon Meyer’s exhibition, Manual or Automatic?, considers the history and the future of the human hand. Industrial automation has dramatically altered the role of the hand in contemporary life, leading paleontologist André Leroi-Gourhan to conclude that in the future the hand may regress until it is no more than an index finger with which to push buttons. Responding to this provocation through anaglyph drawings, a mural-sized installation, biographical objects, geometric paintings, algorithmic and software-based works, Meyer tests the bounds of his own neuromotor capabilities, and considers his complex personal relationship to histories of manual labor.

Meyer recently began a PhD in Art Practice at Goldsmiths College, London. He is a visiting artist at California College of the Arts, teaching in the Graduate Fine Art, Critical Studies, and Graduate Design programs. A recipient of a 2009 NYFA Artists Fellowship award, Meyer has exhibited in London, New York, Seattle and San Francisco. This is his first large-scale solo exhibition.

With thanks to CCA's Division of Humanities and Sciences and Professor Rachel Schreiber for making this exhibition possible.

Tecoah Bruce Gallery at the Oliver Art Center, CCA Oakland campus, 5212 Broadway.
Reception: Wed., Jan. 26, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Hours: Mon.–Fri., 8:30 a.m.–noon and 1–4:30 p.m. (closed Wed. morning);
other times by arrangement with the artist.