Kris Pilcher checks Atlanta’s pulse

? Doom-and-gloom projections of the information age are abundant in film and music. Samantha in Her; the boneless space humans in Wall-E; Parquet Courts’ album Content Nausea, which posits that the future “unfolds in the naked sprint from screen to screen.”  ??
 ?? Atlanta artist Kris Pilcher uses other visual mediums to embrace evolution, suggesting it could alleviate panicked, naked sprinting.    ??
 ?? “Our lives are going to be vastly improved by integrating technology,” Pilcher says. “We’ll be able to live forever. We’ll be able to travel the stars. We’ll be able to make sure that the beauty that is the human race doesn’t eke out and leave no trace behind.”  ??
??  ?? Pilcher’s Transient Pulse at Eyedrum was like gazing from behind a fluorescent screen into the red light of its opening Saturday evening — and then walking into it. Patrons rounded the corner to find 2020 ziploc bags filled with mini Buddhas and an old Dell desktop displaying pills in a crystallized formation. In the center was an installation involving a giant dollar bill, collaged face, and projected YouTube videos of police brutality.  ??
 ?? The feeling that we’re living online is a shared one, and recent zine ventures have stressed how the line between the “digital” and the “real” is becoming less and less clear. In Transient Pulse, Pilcher not only fuses paper with processing, but bridges iconic symbols of ancient civilization like Stonehenge with iconic symbols of modern depression — such as a smattering of Prozac bottles. The visual unification proves human history and technology likely will endure together.  ??
 ?? “We have the physical world and the digital world combining,” Pilcher says. “We also have ancient knowledge combining with our newfound information wealth. So people have more access to those philosophies. That’s where I found out everything that I know about Eastern philosophy — online.”  ??
 ?? Pilcher, co-founder and -owner of the Downtown Players Club, began incorporating tech and film into projects such as Intergalactic Downrock and Dream Collection Agency. For Transient Pulse, his first solo show at Eyedrum, he says he wanted include as many mediums as possible.    ??
 ?? “This might contribute to some of the information overload inside of the gallery, but I think that may be appropriate given the theme,” Pilcher says.  ??
 ?? Life between face-to-face connections and Facebook friends can be jarring, but Pilcher says he understands this complexity as the stillness of acrylics and the fidgeting of Javascript animation: perhaps we can control our reaction to content nausea by choosing to work with the conveniences rather than feeling paralyzed by confusion.  ??
 ?? “I think our goal as living beings is to try to find the balance between the chaos and the stillness,” Pilcher says. “In actuality, that’s where we are already.”  ??
https://www.facebook.com/events/730292573740209/?active_tab=postsTransient Pulse. Through August 8. Eyedrum Art & Music Gallery, 88 Forsyth St. S.W. 404-578-4430. eyedrum.org.