Sherwin Rivera Tibayan. Three-channel video, DVD, March 2012. Installation Views courtesy of Ilari Laamanen and XL Art Space, Helsinki, Finland.

A version of The Histograms is currently on display as part of Switch, a three-person exhibition curated by Ilari Laamanen. Along with works by Heini Aho and Bea Fremderman, Ilari—by way of introduction—notes that:

“It is necessary to slow down and learn how to orientate without an address and a map. Because perhaps one of these days all the lights will be switched off and it will get completely dark. How well can we see in the midst of darkness – or can we see at all? Switch is a group exhibition dealing with distance, temporality and spectating. At the core of the exhibition are the ideas of reduced expression and the rotation of images.”

I live in Oklahoma, so in a gesture inspired by the musical genius of the Flaming Lips and their concept album, Zaireeka, I wrote that the three-channel installation is:

“Composed of a fractured version Frank’s original photographic sequence—each monitor displays the entire set of histograms—and when played together suggest a left to right movement through the work that’s reminiscent of the highways and road markings that were critical to Frank’s project. But, because the starting times will never be perfect, each performance will be different, with the highly structured original narrative finally breaking down into a more open and chaotic movement.”