erations of Chinese artists who came toAmerica before her, and to Ralph Murphy,the entrepreneur who always finds a wayto make interesting things happen. (ChrisMiller) Through May 20.

HYDE PARKHyde Park Art Center⁄5020 South Cornell. !CONRADFREIBURG, drawings, sculpture. In the mid-nineteenth century, Scottish mathemati-cian Hugh Blackburn invented the har-monograph, a device that draws elegantabstractions through the movements oftwo or more pendulums. Blackburnobserved that the visual “harmonies”resulting from intervals of ratio in pendu-lum height correlated to similar steps inthe musical scale. University of Chicagomusicologist Larry Zbikowski is exploringthe visual patterns of movement made bydancers of the waltz, and correlating thesepatterns both to the musical scores thataccompanied the dancing and to states ofemotion and consciousness in the brain.These synchronistic models serve as inspi-ration for Conrad Freiburg, whose virtualuniverse, erected in the main gallery at theHyde Park Art Center, is divided into sec-tions matching the seven notes of theWestern major scale with sconce-likechimes affixed to the wall. While Freiburgdoesn’t claim adherence to any esotericsystem, the number seven recurs through-out occult cosmology; in theosophy, forexample, the seven-step “septenary”describes the various “energy envelopes”of the soul that exist in subatomic empti-ness. But the actual experience of the exhi-bition is not unlike visiting a mysteriousand cavernous antique science museum,minus all the boring information; after all,Freiburg, told me, “part of it is that youdon’t get it.” He created a telescope andplaced it on the high gallery catwalk toview harmonograph drawings hung by thegallery ceiling and arranged by tone.Drawings, graphs and stacks of transcribedresearch notes carefully carved out to cre-ate sculptural craters exemplify Freiburg’sinterest in the “null hypothesis” and the“empty set.” Plaster prime-number polyhe-dron forms hold up a massive scroll con-taining Freiburg’s planning sketches, andsmeared paint obscures found lithographsof mountain scenes. On Sundays Freiburgoperates the Self-Contained Unit ofEntropy (SCUE) machine, which uses cam-eras and a forced-perspective set to docu-ment the destruction of small items creat-ed from scrap by gallery visitors, and cre-ates drawings with the massive lumberharmonograph he designed to anchor hiscosmos. There will be a music performancein honor of the void on Friday, April 29 andon May 7 will be a discussion of harmonywith Freiburg, Zbikowski and physicistHeinrich Jaeger. (Bert Stabler) ThroughJune 26.

LOGAN SQUAREPentagon Gallery⁄2655 West Homer. !BEAUTY RITUAL,photography. “Beauty Ritual” is a groupshow of photographs by Billy Buck, HaniEid, Mac Katter and Olivia Swider, whosework gives an unspoken shape to the titu-lar concept: the ritual capture, construc-tion and dismantling of “beauty.” Swider’swork suggests a rite of preparation, afterwhich she hunts and traps existing beautywith the lens. The elegant composition of“The Clicking of Bones” transforms mani-cured lawns into a geometric suburban

EYE EXAM

Fair PlayBy Laura Fox

In a day and a half in Bridgeport last weekend, connectionsboth professional and personal formed between local art groupsand artists. The catalyst was the new MDW Fair.

The fair’s genesis itself is a bit of a feat in community-building. InFebruary, Ed Marszewski, the founder of The Co-Prosperity Sphere,Version festival and Public Media Institute, asked threewalls and

Roots and Culture if they wanted to help host an art fair focused on Chicago artists and art organizations. In twomonths and with less than $10,000, the three partners recruited sixty-plus exhibitors to fill 25,000 square feet ofexhibition space in the Geolofts warehouse, plus a separate sculpture garden.

The numbers are impressive, but its final results were even more compelling. Represented at the fair were com-mercial galleries, non-profit art groups, publishers, live-work spaces, apartment galleries, performance collectives,art schools, and residency programs. According to Marszewski, the intent of the fair was to expose this multi-varie-gated “art ecology” in Chicago. Marszewski says, “It’s easier for people to understand who’s doing what throughthis real-world social network. And, that’s important because, with funding sources drying up, individual actors arenow creating arts policy in Chicago. Those individuals are part of a community that made this fair possible throughtheir booth fees and culture capital.”

Aron Gent, the exhibits associate for the Public Media Institute, laid out the fair’s large-scale floor plan to avoid“art ghettos” that relegated like-minded arts groups to the same areas. Instead, he mapped the space so commer-cial galleries were nestled between publication groups and alternative spaces, reflecting a true sense of the groups’dispersal throughout the city.

Any hierarchy between art groups was further eliminated by the standard sixteen-foot-by-sixteen-foot boothallotments, as well as the fair’s DIY mentality—to keep costs low, the MDW organizers provided groups with wallsfor their booth space, but asked participants to repaint them and provide lighting as each saw fit. Some spaces fullyembraced this challenge. While portage ARTspace tried to recreate the apartment-gallery sensation by installing acouch and tables complete with tea service and salty snacks, two artists exhibiting their work in the Roots andCulture booth—Kate Ruggeri and Carson Fisk-Vittori—sponge-painted the walls bright blue, creating a kitschyspace with domestic overtones.

With the cost for participation a mere $300, the main intent of many groups was not necessarily to sell work. AronPacker, the long-standing proprietor of Packer Schopf Gallery, saw the event as part of his promotional efforts(which also include the more upscale SOFA and NEXT art fairs) to encourage collectors to visit his gallery. Packerconnected with Johalla Projects (a collaborative project space) and Chicago Urban Art Society (a non-profit gallery)through a panel, and the three groups already made plans to collaborate on a future show.

The low cost of participation also spurred participation from performance-based groups and small art presses, aswell as a radical display of art-world altruism by the Green Gallery from Milwaukee, who ceded their entire exhibitspace to another gallery, American Fantasy Classics, an artist-run studio that helps other artists complete andexhibit large-scale projects.

Comparisons to other local art fairs, such as the behemoth Art Chicago, also loomed large. Bill Gross, the ownerof 65Grand (a storefront space that he formerly operated from his apartment), noted, “Those other Chicago fairstreat exhibitors like they’re selling hair products, or aluminum siding. That’s not the case here. I’ve sold some art-work this weekend, but that wasn’t the reason for coming. It’s just good to get the full community together; it’s acelebration.” Vincent Uribe, who runs the live/work space LVL 3, echoed that sentiment, viewing the MDW Fairalmost as an art-oriented community organizer: “Rather than the out-of-town crowd for Art Chicago, this fair isabout local people getting a feel for what’s out there and possible. Our booth here reiterates our place in Chicago;it puts a face to what we do.”

At MDW’s six scheduled panels, only one wired microphone was provided, meaning that panelists passed it hand-to-hand, pulling the cord when it became caught or too taut, making sure each participants’ voice was heard.Whether on stage or among the booths, this grassroots art fair created a consciously collaborative, democraticspace for the exchange of ideas. And, if it was a litmus test of our art ecology in Chicago, some vibrant colorsemerged. MDW co-organizer Abigail Satinsky put it this way: “It feels like the Chicago arts culture is on an upswing.We have all these galleries, and they all truly want to be in the same physical space together. There’s a lot of poten-tial here, and they’re discovering it together.”

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