Rick Silva

Sky Burial

Rick Silva's 'Sky Burial'

October 17

through November 8, 2014

TRANSFER is pleased to present 'SKY BURIAL’ our second solo exhibition with Rick Silva, featuring new video, print, and sculpture works.

Titled ‘SKY BURIAL’, the exhibition takes as its starting point the Tibetan Buddhist funeral practice in which a body is placed on a mountaintop to be eaten by birds of prey. In lieu of bodies and birds, Silva uses quadcopter drones and digital images to reflect on ritual and ascension in the 21st century.

Using a camera drone, Silva lifts the artist’s submitted image hundreds of feet into the air until it loses contact with the remote and the drones programmed artificial intelligence takes over. Silva records a series of these “sky burials” for 10 artists, selected by the artist from his friends and past collaborators. Silva’s installation of prints and sculpture in the exhibition further explore a world of post military drones and future rituals.

Rick Silva, is an artist whose recent videos, websites and images explore notions of landscape and wilderness in the 21st century. His first solo show with TRANSFER 'En Plein Air' opened in May 2013. Silva’s art has been shown in exhibitions and festivals worldwide, including Transmediale in Germany, Futuresonic in the U.K and Sonar in Spain. His projects have been supported through grants and commissions from organizations such as Rhizome and The Whitney Museum of American Art. Recently WIRED called his videos “glitchy, curious things—some mesmerizing, some arresting.” Silva lives in Eugene Oregon, where he also teaches at the University of Oregon.