Frank Gillette's Spectra Obscura at Microscope Gallery Explores Environmental Loss

Key facts

• Frank Gillette's Spectra Obscura is on view at Microscope Gallery in Chelsea, New York, through October 17.
• The exhibition features The Symbiotic Blues (2017–22), a trilogy of three-channel video works: "Riverrun" (2017–18), "Spearlight" (2019), and "Blackseer" (2022).
• The Symbiotic Blues explores the fragile habitats and marine life of Eastern Long Island.
• The single-channel video "Symptomatic Syntax" (1981) includes a voice-over reading from J.M.E. Taggart's 1908 book The Unreality of Time.
• "Chthonic Chimera" (1987) is a set of rare large-format Polaroids depicting tree bark, flower petals, small animal skulls, and shells.
• Ambient soundscapes from the videos include field recordings of woodlands and beaches of Eastern Long Island, mixed with percussive elements, melodic tones, and distorted electronics.
• Since the 1960s, Gillette has created video and media works addressing the entanglements between nature, culture, and human-caused devastation of the biosphere.
• The exhibition was organized by Microscope Gallery.