What if?

By Ann Nichols, annsnichols@aol.com

Nicolas Kahn and Richard Selesnick are intrigued by "what if?" They look at a moment of recorded history and wonder how the future would have been altered had one aspect been different.

Their two most recent projects, "The Apollo Prophesies" an and "Eisbergfreistadt," will go on view in the Cress Gallery in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Fine Arts Center on Feb. 2. The event is part of the Marek Visiting Artists Series.

Mr. Kahn and Mr. Selesnick became a collaborative team after graduating from Washington University in Missouri. Both were interested in combining materials and media to construct monumental installations.

"Building and fashioning costumes and props, repurposing ready-made objects, and drawing, paitning, sculpting and assembling artifacts and models, they create believable reality from justifiable reality," said Ruth Grover, curator of Cress Gallery. "The two installations to be on display feature still photographs, panoramic photographs, video, objects, sculpture and costume."

"The Apollo Prophesies" was inspired by a dream by astronaut Charlie Duke, the tenth man to walk on the moon and part of the 1972 Apollo 16 Mission. Mr. Duke dreamed that when he arrived on the moon, another astronaut was already there.

Mr. Kahn and Mr. Selesnick devised a story and project that illustrates their "what if?" premise. To them a wayward group of Edwardian astronauts arrived on the moon in the early 20th century and built a settlement. The project, which took four years to complete, included creating a scale model of the moon's surface, Edwardian-era space gear, a lunar module, text and prophesies which chronicle the event.

The second exhibition, "Eisbergfreistadt," refers to the true story of a huge iceberg that drifted into the Baltic Sea in 1923 and landed near the German port, Lubeck. City leaders declared the iceberg a free-trade area under the name Eisbergfreistadt -- hoping to make it a haven for off-shore banking. Money and bank notes were issued and, to celebrate the establishment of the bank, a masquerade ball was held. So many guests attended that their weight caused the iceberg to split. One piece melted and the other floated out to sea.

The artists note in their statement that the iceberg event was merely a precursor to more tragic events to befall Lubeck during World War II. They can't help but compare our concerns with global warming to Lubeck's fate.

"As such, the history of Lubeck seems particularly relevant to our contemporary anxieties and we ignore its lessons at our peril,'" Mr. Kahn and Mr. Selesnick said.

The artists will give a lecture on Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception until 7:30 p.m. The exhibition will continue through March 16.

Cress Gallery, corner of Vine and Palmetto streets, is open 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 304-9789.