CHARLENE LISKA

By ALYSON SHEPPARD

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La, la, la ... just walking down the street minding your own business, when ... BAM. A radio signal accidentally punctures your face, causing temporary blindness and forcing you to rely on echolocation to make it the rest of the way to Popeye's. Impossible? Just ask artist Charlene Liska. She says that interference, or the act of one signal—electronic or natural—interrupting another, can impair one's perception of reality. She questions this phenomenon in her new exhibit, Interference. What is really true? What is really happening? Maybe your microwave isn't broken but the Libertarians are sending out propaganda on the same wavelength. Maybe your 3-D glasses aren't malfunctioning but you did actually just see Hannah Montana totally rock out in the "Best of Both Worlds" concert tour. Weird. "I look for the other side of things (assuming there is another side)," says Liska, who suffers from intermittent seizures and is accustomed to hiccups in her consciousness. "I try to reduce the visible world, which I find increasingly inscrutable, to essentials, using a variety of means, including both painted and electronic media and silkscreen." In her collection, she playfully blends Chia Pets with television sets and furniture with antennas to act as metaphors for the brain's whimsical mix-ups. She says pure signals might not be possible or even desirable. Aluminum foil hat? Yes, please.

[Now–April 27. Gallery Hours Fri.-Sat. 2pm-6pm. Atlantic Works, 80 Border St., Top Fl., East Boston. 617.530.0615. atlanticworks.org]