A wide, stark space with polished wood floors, framed photographs and canvases lining the walls. This may be the image that immediately comes to mind when thinking of an art gallery. Red Space, however, is anything but.

Named after founder Caitlin McCollom’s favorite color, the gallery is actually housed inside an apartment. A trend on the rise, the apartment gallery represents a DIY solution to Austin’s need for new art spaces. McCollom first opened Red Space in Jan. 2011, hosting the premiere exhibit that April. In choosing shows for the space, she seeks out very experimental, conceptual art in forms such as performance installation and non-object works.

The current exhibit in place, Disambiguation, is the second display of the gallery’s second cycle. An opening reception was held Jan. 28, with the exhibit in place until Feb. 5 by viewing appointment. Created by artists Max Marshall and Andrea Nguyen, Disambiguation is based on scientific concepts and explores the ability of photography to portray complex ideas. Like all work shown in the gallery, the artists submitted a proposal and created the never-before-seen works specifically for Red Space.

I caught up with McCollom on the progress of her gallery since her last interview with Tribeza and to experience the newest exhibit.

Q: How has everything been going for Red Space?
CM: I think ever since the TRIBEZA article the space really exploded in popularity. Not only because of the publicity it received, but also from the gallery’s own merit and people coming and learning more about the space. The artists have continued to pump out extremely fabulous work and really give the space a good reputation just by the merit of the artists we’re showing.

Q: So tell me about the current exhibit?
CM: This exhibit is a collaboration between two artists, Max Marshall and Andrea Nguyen. Basically what they did was they went through Wikipedia and they researched all these different scientific pages that were displaying really complex scientific concepts. Then they looked at the photos that were already there, and they re-photographed them to be these beautiful, artful photographic images. Then they submitted all of the photos that they took back to Wikipedia for approval, so you can actually see the photos on Wikipedia now representing the scientific concepts.

Q: In what ways does Red Space try to diversify Austin’s art scene, and how does this exhibit fit into that goal?
CM: We’re interested in emerging artists who are making work that is highly conceptual, experimental, non-commercial in some way. This show is a little anomalistic because it’s definitely the most traditional-looking show that we have, it’s photographs in frames on the walls. But the experimental aspect of the show is that it has a new media interface with the Internet and with public dialogue and Wikipedia obviously, which really interests me. It’s sort of reintroducing photographs of scientific concepts back into the public sphere.

Q: Which piece is your personal favorite?
CM: I love the ice cream one. It’s beautiful. And I love the Diesel Rainbow piece because the oval is so imposing with white around it. If you can see my artwork, I love white space. I think it’s really interesting aesthetically.

Q: How does this exhibit appeal to visitors?
CM: It think a lot of people found a lot to like about this show. This was a big show, it brought in lots of people, and lots of new people that have never been to this place, and they were sort of like, “Oh, there’s these pretty pictures on the wall.” And that makes it accessible for a lot of folks. But then, talking about the concepts of the show just kind of reestablishes ourselves.