Jennifer Steinkamp's Premature series and Orbit 7 at Lehmann Maupin explore life cycles through digital animation

Jennifer Steinkamp presented an exhibition at Lehmann Maupin in New York City from September 10 to October 23, 2010. The show featured large-scale video projections using 3-D animation software, with works from her new series Premature and a separate piece titled Orbit 7. In the main gallery, Premature 2, 3, 6, and 7 displayed writhing, tubular forms that evoked robotic worms or cyborg anatomy, despite the artist's description of them having a meat-like texture resembling veins and tendons. These pastel-colored, illuminated ropes lacked pulsing or breathing motions to suggest life. Orbit 7, in the back gallery, depicted tree branches and leaves cycling through the four seasons in a continuous loop, with vibrant colors and kinetic motion illustrating birth, growth, death, and decay. The projectors were placed low so viewers' shadows merged with the works, erasing boundaries between artwork, technology, and people. Steinkamp's use of digital technology served as a metaphor for fleeting life and premature endings, drawing comparisons to HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the film Avatar. The artist, based in California, aimed to explore unpredictable timing of life and death through these immersive animations.