August 2021 / In The Backspace: Forrest Perrine

In The Backspace

Holding Pattern by Forrest Perrine

August 05 – 29, 2021
Opening Reception / Thursday, August 05, 6-8pm

Summer/Covid-19 Gallery Hours:
Friday–Sunday, 12pm–5pm and by appointment

In his first solo exhibition as a SOIL Gallery member, Forrest Perrine presents Holding Pattern. What is this place we’re all in and how long are we in it? Somehow we got here, somehow we’ll leave, but for now we’re all in this hiccup of existence together. Holding Pattern is a space to dig into the time between now and whatever bubbles out of the cosmic fountain next. It’s a waiting room dedicated to the people and things that help us in the waiting— the fleeting eye contact and head nod in an otherwise empty elevator, radio pledge drives on a crawling highway, a magazine article detailing famous people making sexy mistakes, a podcast of unsolved murder while cleaning dried teriyaki sauce, Bad Boys 2 seen at 10,000 feet in the middle seat, the meal dropped off by a friend when your body can’t swing it, the nurse spending a little extra time sitting to make sure the meds are working.

Everybody is waiting for something—a call, a job, a sign; the next meal, the next year, the next life. Is all time a form of waiting? What would life be like if we embraced the wait? Would waiting even exist anymore? Is the whole reason for our existence to help one another get through this waiting room? Embraced or not, we are all ultimately waiting for whatever comes next. The only questions are when it will come and what we will do while we wait.