Erica Duffy-Voss art exhibit on display at Luther College

Re: Body, a sound-based installation by artist Erica Duffy-Voss, will be on display Feb. 5-March 19 in the Kristin Wigley-Fleming Gallery, Center for the Arts, on the campus of Luther College (http://www.luther.edu).

The central focus of Duffy-Voss' installation is communication. Her exhibit is open to the public with no charge for admission.

Communication is the process of expressing an idea by the use of words, sounds, gestures and body movement. These words and actions are translated to make meaning. However, the meaning of words and actions is not concrete; it is dependent upon history and culture, the context in which the words and actions are used, and past experiences.

According to Duffy-Voss, communication is not a process of transporting ideas, but rather transforming them.

She explains, "the psychological space between two interacting people is difficult to describe, yet it is an active zone in which meaning is transformed, interpreted and made. The phenomena that disrupt communication are even harder to identify." In her exhibit Duffy-Voss gives these phenomena visual and concrete form as objects relating to the body.

These objects take many forms in her work including industrial hoses that connect people in communication, steel pins that hit a person on the vocal tract as they speak, and objects that react to body movement and sound. Each is designed to generate an experience in which communication is altered or disrupted by the object, heightening a person's awareness of their voice, sound, movement and body.

Duffy-Voss attempts to show how the body is central to these experiences. A person's physical body allows them to interface with the world; regardless of background, history or culture, physical experiences are understood through the physical body.

These experiences promote critical reflection upon one's thoughts, values, beliefs and assumptions by creating an environment that draws attention to the disruption of communication.

Duffy-Voss is an assistant professor of art at the University of Northern Iowa. She holds the bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design and the master of fine arts degree from Miami University School of Fine Arts.

For more information about Duffy-Voss and her work, visit: http://ericaduffyvoss.com.