Heavy Metal Machine: Stephan Webb for 'Evolutionary End Game' @ Stranger Factory 4/5

Have you ever considered what our planet is going to look like in 25, 50, 100+ years? How about its organisms? As a species, we produce a lot of stuff and as the saying goes, you can't take it with you. So what happens to it? For Albuquerque artist Stephan Webb, it's reclaimed by nature and becomes part of the evolution process. Webb's intricate bronze sculptures explore the idea of biology and industry living as one; the possibility that, through time, organisms can learn to integrate the discarded machines and relics from mankind into their very being. Sure, we've seen the odd abandoned house with a tree growing out of it, or sea wrecks reclaimed by the darkest depths, but ... just how far could this go?

Real far, as we'll see Friday when Webb unveils his newest body of work: Evolutionary End Game, at Stranger Factory. Venturing back to numerous eras of the past, the show explores the creatures we've managed to discover ... and those we haven't. "Evolutionary End Game is going to be more organic and less mechanical than most of my work," Webb says on the CP blog. "This series deals with some evolutionary concepts such as transitional species and 'missing links'. I like the idea that our knowledge of extinct organisms is derived from what is found in the fossil record. What about the creatures that left no evidence of their existence? The possibilities are endless."

Evolutionary End Game opens April 5th through the 28th at Stranger Factory (109 Carlisle Blve NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106). A reception will be held from 6pm to 9pm; Stephan will be present!