An Artistic Exploration of Nature and Humanity at the School of Communication
Opening on January 12, a new exhibit at the School of Communication gallery invites visitors to explore the intricate relationship between humans and nature. This multi-modal display combines various artistic elements, including hand-drawn animations, large-scale prints, video installations, and interactive activities.
Visual communication professor Chris Johnson, inspired by a personal encounter with bears in Alaska, has developed this project. “I was filming a coastal brown bear in Katmai,” Johnson recounted. “There were about a dozen bears in the area, but one passed within 20 feet of me, then suddenly turned and walked back toward where I was standing. That moment of fear shifted into awe and respect, and it sparked the idea of turning environmental encounters into tangible art objects.”
The exhibition, titled “The Immensity of the Search,” features a variety of artistic pieces such as printed scrolls with animations, a mechanical kestrel simulating flight, salmon rubber stamps, and sketches from Johnson’s personal notebooks. Johnson’s aim is to prompt visitors to pause and reflect on the intertwined relationships between species, locations, and technological advancements.
“This project is about reimagining animation,” noted Johnson. “I want people to think about animation as something you can hold and touch, experiencing the physical space, not just on the screen. I have been working with Blender and Procreate Dreams, with relief print stamps, projection mapping and physical computing to trace and look at the relationships between animation, space, ecology, memories and storytelling.”
With a focus on Arizona’s endangered species, the exhibition highlights creatures such as the southwestern willow flycatcher and the Mount Graham red squirrel, paying tribute to the area’s diverse ecosystem. Johnson expressed, “I want the work to create a sense of reverence for species we often overlook—and to show how animation can be both poetic and physical, technological and deeply human.”
The exhibit, “The Immensity of the Search,” will be accessible to the public from January 12 to February 27 at the School of Communication Gallery, located on the second floor of Building 16. An opening reception is scheduled for January 22, from 4-7 p.m.
Mariana Laas | NAU Communications
(928) 523-5050 | mariana.laas@nau.edu
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