New art exhibition at WSU Tri-Cities ponders impact of ‘the cloud’

Joe Batt drew a picture on a brick wall in downtown Olympia about a year ago.

It was charcoal, life size — featuring a boy with a satellite attached to his head.

It stayed on the wall for a few days, and then something unexpected happened.

A worker came along and installed fiber optic cables on the boy’s face. He hadn’t noticed the drawing.

To Batt, it didn’t ruin the piece — it actually enhanced it.

“I couldn’t have done it better myself,” he said. “It’s just one of those happy accidents.”

Batt, an artist and instructor at South Puget Sound Community College, has been meditating on the impact of Wi-Fi technology and devices on the culture and daily life.

In a new exhibition at The Art Center at Washington State University Tri-Cities, he uses images like the one on the Olympia wall to provoke thought and inspire conversation.

“What I’m trying to do as an immigrant in this digital age is learn how to live in it in a meaningful way,” he said. “What you’re seeing here is work that’s done while I’m pondering that.”

The show, called In the Cloud, runs through Feb. 26.

It includes a mix of drawings and ceramic sculptures, many of which depict children using devices like smartphones and tablets.

In one striking sculpture, two children sit facing each other, arms reaching out, with tablets fixed to their faces.

Peter Christenson, WSU Tri-Cities assistant professor of fine arts and Art Center curator, said Batt’s work challenges “the unyielding adoration and praise of anything and everything electronic.”

It’s “clever and timely, questioning the role of technology in our lives and inviting us to witness the potential drawbacks, challenges and social implications that often accompany these ‘advancements,’ ” he said.

Batt has 11 siblings. While many in his family gravitated toward the sciences, he found his way to art.

He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Montana and has been in Olympia for about 20 years.

He was in the Tri-Cities last week to install In the Cloud and attend the opening reception.

He said that when it comes to technology, it’s smart to ask questions, to think deeply, to become educated.

His aim with the show isn’t to condemn smart phones and the like. “Some people have said I’m critical of technology. And a little bit I am, but only in that — I think that if you buy a new car, you buy a new house, you start dating a new person, you ask a few questions,” he said. “It’s OK to ask a few questions. That’s all I’m doing.”

In the Cloud, he said, is a show that “asks us to keep our minds open and to be thoughtful.”

The Art Center is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, or by appointment. It’s in the Consolidated Information Center at WSU Tri-Cities, 2710 Crimson Way, Richland.

This story was originally published January 31, 2016 at 1:27 PM with the headline "New art exhibition at WSU Tri-Cities ponders impact of ‘the cloud’."