Visual artist Chris Sauter occupies Cactus Barn’s interior with Transmitter/Receiver and the exterior of the space with a new work, Scheunen Hex-Schild, which will make their public debut at Friday, Nov. 1, opening.

In Transmitter/Receiver, Sauter continues his exploration of biological, hybridized and even metastasized communication systems through drawings, sculpture and installations selected from series past and present, speculating about the possible biochemical underpinnings of — and the artist’s obsessive ordering and re-ordering of — a macro-and micro systems universe.

For instance, his receptors towers — SETI-style radio telescopes with mushroom stalks — become referents for connection and communication on the microscopic level (mycelium) and grandest scale known to man: interstellar communication, highlighting the biological substructures of cultural pursuits.

Scheunen Hex-Schild, which is German for “barn hex sign,” is a contemporary version of a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of adorning barns, some functioning as “witch marks” to ward off bad spirits.

Sauter’s six-pointed star is comprised of funnels circling a central axis. Here, the funnel is a stand-in for the artist as a conduit of meaning and channeler of limitless experiences, facts, observations and possibilities into concentrated forms. The funnel is open and extends in many directions, indicating active and open interaction with the Anthropocene — at least for those who can penetrate his six-sided sigil.

Free, 5-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, for reception and otherwise by appointment, cactusBARN, 613 Mission Road, (219) 872-2364, cactusbarn.org.

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