Artist of the Week: Chris Combs

Technology is essential. It has proven to be a keystone concept of our civilization that has simplified our lives. Technology is difficult. Trying to understand the nuances of certain technological practices can be bothersome for us all. Including millennials. Technology is...art?

Yes.

Now, when I say technology is art, I am not solely referring to the programs and apps developers and designers use to make art. I am talking about technology in its totality.

The USB drive in your laptop storing whatever you downloaded? Art. The lantern on the street keeping it lit for drivers so it remains visible? Art. Even a small screen that’s the size of the thermostat sitting on the wall? Art.

For Chris Combs, technology is art.

Combs is a local artist who has quietly made a name for himself with the unique incorporation of technology into an art display. Creating visual masterpieces centered on either Combs or humanity’s relationship with technology. “Madness Method”, one of his latest pieces that uses 216 computer-controlled, varying in height lanterns, is a great example.

On Combs’s website the display is introduced by mentioning how “technology continues to quietly shape our world”. Due to this, our minds work to attain “the patterns we need to thrive”. A perfect way to introduce artwork perceived to be nothing more than pixels, until you stand in just the right spot.

Then everything makes sense.

Then you are able to see the words, images, and animations that were obscured to you before. Then you are able to find the joy in what was once a mess. Then you are able to truly marvel at Chris Combs for his creativity and innovation.

The artwork, visible outside of Montessori school on the Georgetown campus, is truly beautiful. A trait it shares with many of Combs’s other works.

So do yourself a favor and go check out more of Chris Combs!