In a Heartbeat

Artspace, New Haven

On view March 27 - June 26, 2021

Arc of Near, 20" rotating glass and steel sculpture

Counter-Curve, 60" diameter volcanic pumice and acrylic sculpture on wood panel

Orbital Axis, 6" diameter glass sculpture

Arc of Near, 20" rotating glass and steel sculpture

Orbital Axis, 6" diameter glass sculpture

Press:
The New York Times:
New Haven’s Art Scene: Always Excellent, and now Reopening

Daily Nutmeg:
W.E.B. Du Bois: Data Recovery

New Haven Arts Paper:
At Artspace, Dana Karwas Finds The Pulse

Yale Daily News:
Artspace opens three exhibitions centering on W.E.B. Du Bois’ works

New Haven Register:
Exhibit inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois to debut this weekend at Artspace in New Haven

In a Heartbeat examines moments, often unconscious gestures, that nevertheless might be pivotal moments in someone’s life, through three sculptural works: Counter-Curve, Orbital Axis, and Arc of Near. The exhibition takes its inspiration from “The Princess Steel,” a piece of speculative fiction by the writer and sociologist W.E.B Du Bois, who proposed a way to inspect the arc of civilization created using 200 years of data made up of “everyday facts of life.” Initially foiled by all of the “curves” and “curious counter-curves” of human deeds the protagonist, Professor Johnson, reveals that he has created an invention capable of integrating small moments into what he calls “the Great Near,” an accumulation of all the normally invisible experiences of a person’s life. Any mundane moment can be imbued with dread; what heart-stopping catastrophe might await? Alternately, without context, any single moment or simple gesture is slight and can be perceived to mean very little—an adult reaching into a purse to find their keys or a child stretching for cookies above a stove. Our assumptions while observing such moments can be maddening as our minds plot out “curious counter-curves” that can be as fantastical as one of Du Bois’s stories, an immeasurable inflection point where a whole life can be glimpsed. Karwas’ pedagogy and personal research involves investigating these modes of perception.

ArtSpace New Haven
50 Orange Street
New Haven, CT 06510

For more information, contact: dkarwas+studio@gmail.com

Credits:
Thank you Lisa Dent, Simon Ghebreyesus, and Artspace New Haven; Larry Wilen and the Yale CEID for engineering and fabrication help with Arc of Near; Rishab Jain and Nathan Burnell from the Yale School of Architecture for helping me wrangle Orbital Axis into a 3D print, Linda Ross Art Studio for glass fabrication; Classic Welding for the steel frame; Alex Zafiris for the feedback and writing; Paul Theriault for the stunning install, and my friends, family, and the Yale CCAM community who helped this show become a reality.