Openings a 911 windows installation by San Francisco Bay Area artist Robert Ortbal art installation: Exhibition dates: August 3 - Sept. 17, 2000 Artist’s reception: Thursday, August 3, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave North, Seattle 911 Media Arts Center is pleased to announce Openings, a 911 Windows installation by San Francisco Bay Area artist Robert Ortbal. Openings can be viewed August 3 to September 17 in 911’s storefront windows. Ortbal will give a short artist’s talk and presentation at a free, public reception on Thursday, August 3, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. In "Openings", hundreds of ordinary tin cans are opened (top and bottom) and placed side by side to completely fill five large storefront windows. Facing the windows directly, the cans almost disappear as they take on the quality of soap bubbles or a view from under the microscope. From the oblique view, the cans are luminous cylinders reflecting gold and silver light -- evoking light from cathedral windows. Robert Ortbal’s work is known for its poignant simplicity and unusual use of ordinary materials. Previous installations by Ortbal include a floor-to-ceiling stack of eggshells, cotton balls stuck to glass, needles in pieces of bread, and food scraps on netting. He uses commonplace materials ripped out of context in order to alter the viewer’s perceptions and question his/her assumptions. As he writes: "By disturbing one’s relative position to an object or a particular subject, an individual is awakened!" Robert Ortbal was born in Virginia in 1962. He earned a MFA from the University of California in Davis and has exhibited extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area. He currently resides in Oakland, California. Ongoing since 911’s incorporation in 1984, the 911 Windows program continues to offer area artists a unique installation opportunity in five large storefront windows facing a major intersection at 117 Yale Avenue North (one block south of the flagship REI building). Artists interested in applying to the 911 Windows program should contact Brad Thompson at 911 Media Arts Center (206) 682-6552, or e-mail brad@911media.org. 911 Windows is supported in part by PONCHO and the Andrea Frank Foundation.