The Blackest Spot is an interactive installation that uses Elias Canetti's seminal text "Crowds and Power" as its point of departure. Canetti speaks of crowds as a mysterious and universal phenomenon whose density creates the 'blackest spot'. Using images of crowds culled from the daily newspaper, Jody Zellen explores the representation of crowds and the myriad of reasons for public gatherings. Animated imagery, fragments of sounds from well know speeches throughout history, and drawing will transform the gallery space into an arena placing the viewer in the role of audience or speaker. As viewers interact with triggers strategically placed on the floor of the space, they will be able to choreograph their own experience. Alternating between contemplative quiet and a cacophony of cheers, the many facets of public gatherings will be explored. click here to see images of the exhibition Zellen worked with Lewis Keller who programmed the electronics for this project.

Jody Zellen received her MFA from CalArts and has been exhibiting her photographs, drawings and installations worldwide since the mid 1990s. Recent exhibitions include Sixteen to One, Santa Monica, Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, and Printed Matter, New York. For more information visit www.jodyzellen.com.

Los Angeles based artist Lewis Keller manipulates frequency, timbre and amplitude via performance, installation, fabrication and digital media. His work combines sophisticated technology with crude humble structures, inviting listeners to question their relationships with time, technology, space, sound and silence. He received his BAfrom Colorado College and his MFAfrom CalArts. For more information visit www.lewiskeller.com