As light is abstracted and transposed into a pictorial volume of light, the information shifts into the realms of memory.
WATER LIGHT PASSAGE
NEW YORK, USA
2006
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THE WATER LIGHT PASSAGE AT NIGHT
THE TRANSPOSED VIEW IS 'SUPERIMPOSED' UPON DIRECT VIEWS OF THE HARBOR
A STONE BENCH OFFERS A SPECIFIC VIEWING DISTANCE
VIEW THROUGH A SECOND DIFUSED PLANE OF GLASS INTO THE WATER LIGHT PASSAGE
DETAILS OF THE VIDEO CAPTURING VIEWS OF THE HARBOR SURFACE
Description
This environmental work establishes a transitional space of rest and contemplation between the permanent collections shown in the original building and the changing exhibitions and events located in the museum’s new extension. This artwork evokes the ephemeral ecology of sky and water complementing the earth-bound qualities of the Andy Goldsworthy sculpture garden below.
Using a live video feed from the museum’s roof, the play of water and light across the harbor’s surface is transposed to a sparse field of LEDs where the images become flickering points of light. Framing a space of contemplation, this environmental information, reduced to its essence, pure light information, is observed through a plane of glass with a calibrated level of diffusion that resolves the light back into image. A clear frame of glass reveals this tension between ‘light’ and ‘seeing’, ‘nature’ and our ‘consciousness’.