Here, There and Everywhere: Anticipating the Art of the Future

By NISHA MAXWELL

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The Distillery Gallery has taken a sledgehammer to their own egos. In their latest show, artists of different nationalities and from many different genres collaborate and communicate through cultures and genres.

The result is devastatingly funny. That is, you can't help but laugh at how insufficient humanity's communication tools are, as in Naturalized!, where, using the game "Telephone" as a model, the artists communicate their ideas in a circular order via Skype. Like telephone, the thought gets retuned and warped beyond recognition.

A great friendship also resulted from Here, There. Electronic musician Rudi Punzo and sculptor Peter Lindenmuth created a music machine that will culminate in a performance by both at the opening. "For blues and jazz and hillbilly and funk, for doowah and post-mod classical, you got to have funk, funk, funk—tons of funk," says Punzo. "Me and Rudi are gonna fix that".

The award-winning (and Boston-based) TransCultural Exchange organized the exhibit and have planned over 60 worldwide so far, all to break down borders. They speak of a new world "where borders are porous, communication instantaneous and spectacular achievements, more often than not, a joint effort." This is a big idea for the art world: sharing. "It asks artists to step outside the traditional, romantic notion of an artist as a solitary genius," says director Mary Sherman, "and to work with artists from another culture." It is about the value of community and quality versus profit. "I imagine most of the projects," says Sherman, "were not conceived to be marketable."

[Here, There and Everywhere: Anticipating the Art of the Future. Opens 4.3.09. Until 5.15.09. 516 East Second St., South Boston. 617.269.8430. 9am-5pm, Mon-Sat/free. distilleryboston.com]