Lucy McRae: Future Sensitive (Capsule Review)

[Original publication: No Proscenium, 12/13/22]

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Future Sensitive is the title of Lucy McRae’s show at Honor Fraser. And it feels like a future that’s not only here, but is somehow already outdated. Because it feels so familiar — with its analog tech, DIY aesthetic, and mix of ordinary physical objects and materials — there’s a certain comfort and ease sharing space with sculptural machines such as Future Survival Kit (Compression Carpet), which is essentially a lo-fi hug generator. These installations are contrasted with McRae’s short films, which feature dystopian realities presented through movement and choreography, sometimes quiet, balletic, and even mundane; other times contorted and repulsive.

Described as a “science fiction artist, inventor, and body architect,” McRae’s relentless creativity is evident in this solo exhibition. The tunnels of isolation and bridges of connectivity of the past few years have distorted time. It’s become surrealistic. Her work echoes and amplifies this unsettling, visceral sensation. One of the films in particular, Delicate Spells of Mind, elicited that hazy, disappearing threshold between dream and memory. Was it real? Was this something that actually happened?

Go to Honor Fraser and try to grasp the intangible.