Arts

“The More We Get Together” at Re:View Gallery desires your participation

New work by Megan Heeres opened at Re:View Contemporary.

When it comes to artist Megan Heeres, collaboration is the name of the game. Whether she’s rigging a local bell tower to light up in reaction to the movements of the DLECTRICITY 2014 festival attendees milling beneath it, or driving into the community with her self-made mobile paper station, Heeres consciously leverages her art making to challenge the principles of productivity and self-sufficiency that were the bedrock of her Midwestern upbringing.

Heeres, displaying one of her handmade books, in front of a wall of paper circles, in a recent group show at Public Pool.

Heeres, displaying one of her handmade books, in front of a wall of paper circles, in a recent group show at Public Pool.

Collaboration is front and center in Heere’s new solo show, “The More We Get Together,” which opened on March 21 at Re:View Contemporary Gallery in Midtown. As the title would suggest, Heeres is eager to invite collective input, specifically encouraging visitors to the show to don an apron and get their hands pulpy, working through the process of making paper and utilizing the fibers of invasive species that Heeres has harvested from around Detroit. As finished paper is pressed and dried into circles of varying color and texture based on their native ingredients, attendees are invited to add them to the installation, five floor-to-ceiling “trees” of paper leaves, pierced on spindles or strings, rising from bases that show colorful man-made striations.

Attendees of the preview, jumping in on the action around the paper-making station.

Attendees of the preview, jumping in on the action around the paper-making station.

In so many ways, Heeres has created an open process—from presenting the assembly mechanism, to inviting participation at every level of the show, including collaboration with a number of artists, on display in the second gallery. The installation will only become more florid and unpredictable as it progresses through April 18, so be sure to get it together and get to Re:View.

Re:View Contemporary Gallery: 444 W. Willis, suite 112, Detroit; 313-833-9000; www.reviewcontemporary.com