Julia Oldham studies invertebrate mating rituals, which she then translates into dance. In her oddly captivating videos, she wildly flails her limbs, hovers over dim lights, and slams prosthetic claws into the ground. For the soundtrack, she traveled outside Brooklyn and collected field recordings of bugs, later combined with her vocals and music. I find it exciting that its possible for these little creatures to make connections with each other like humans do, she says by phone from New York. Of her insect inspirations, she explains, They present their bodies to each other in a way that they hope is perceived as sexy, much like we do in our courtship processes. Of course, she admits there are some significant differences, as well: In the spider world, the females typically have sex with the guys and eat them. Thats not something you see happen in the human world, unless youre talking metaphorically. Five of Oldhams videos are on view in the group show “Dearly, Madly,” which also features work by Alika Cooper, Michael Dee, Shaun Kardinal, and Haim Steinbach. (Closed Sun. & Mon.) ERIKA HOBART
March 11-28, 10:30 a.m., 2009
