Venus: A Space to Hold

Annette Isham: Venus: A Space to Hold

 The Yard

Coordinates 38.847596, -104.799216

Colorado Springs

From August 1, 2021

Review by Sharifa Moore

Denver-based video artist Annette Isham asks viewers to rethink the romanticism of westward expansion with three augmented reality artworks entitled Venus: A Space to Hold. Through these works, visitors are presented with an alternative and experimental method for engaging with the art object, hosted within the Popwalk app, developed by David Chapman Lindsay, and set against the backdrop of The Yard and the surrounding Divine Redeemer neighborhood in Colorado Springs.

An image of a viewer using the Popwalk app on a smart phone to view Annette Isham’s Venus: A Space to Hold, 2021, site-specific augmented reality works in Colorado Springs. Image courtesy of The Yard.

A still image from Annette Isham’s Venus: A Space to Hold, 2021, site-specific augmented reality works in Colorado Springs viewed with a smart phone. Image courtesy of The Yard.

The Yard is an outdoor project space organized in the literal yard of artists Ben Kingsley and Jessica Langley and features quarterly rotations of outdoor exhibitions. As the title implies, Venus: A Space to Hold features Isham’s alter ego that she has named Venus. The figure performs within the landscape, subverting the traditional narrative of the American West through the inclusion and replication of the female body, complete with drone footage, animation, and sounds that alter the perspective of the terrain.

A still image from Annette Isham’s Venus: A Space to Hold, 2021, site-specific augmented reality works in Colorado Springs viewed with a smart phone. Image courtesy of the artist.

An image of Annette Isham’s Venus: A Space to Hold, 2021, site-specific augmented reality works in Colorado Springs viewed on a smart phone. Image courtesy of The Yard.

Venus questions who is included and subsequently excluded from problematic conversations on the topic of early “pioneers” and “settlers,” focusing on the production of new stories and histories incorporated into place and time. The residential setting defies the boundaries of the traditional gallery space, and in this regard, is an apt complement for augmented reality, which allows the artist to think about site-specific works beyond the limitations of physical materials. AR creates the potential for vast creation without visual impact on those unaware of its existence and it investigates the usage of technology to mediate new ways of seeing. 

Documentation of Venus: A Space to Hold by Annette Isham. Video courtesy of The Yard.

Venus: A Space to Hold is on view indefinitely through Popwalk at the coordinates 38.847596, -104.799216. This project is supported by a 3X3 Projects grant from the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.

Sharifa Moore is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator. She is the executive director and associate curator at Denver Digerati and volunteers her time on the board of Tilt West.