IN THE GLOW OF A BREATHING SPHERE
June 25 – July 31, 2015
B-Reel, Prana (2015), 12x12x12 ft
13,221 LEDs, wire, 5,422 ft acrylic tubing, FadeCandy, metal, wood, custom software
In the Glow of a Breathing Sphere is a site-specific LED installation conceived and built by the interactive design studio B-Reel, accompanied by a program of sound and spoken-word performances by various artists, focusing on relationships among living organisms, technology and the environment.
In his seminal book, Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, Timothy Morton applies Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology to describe human-made phenomena of such immense proportions and such profound, irreversible effect on the environment (e.g., carbon emissions and radioactive deposits), that these phenomena escape our comprehension.
Art is one, if not the only, discipline which might allow us to sneak a peek at the immeasurable nature of these processes. In Timothy Morton’s own words, “Hyperobjects are thinkable but not exhausted by (human) calculation. Art that evokes hyperobjects must therefore deal with their necessarily uncanny intimacy and strangeness.”
The centerpiece of the exhibition is Prana, a room-sized interactive sculpture, in which light sequences are triggered by participants’ breath, visualizing the unseen energies of our bodies. One-by-one, viewers are invited to stand inside the suspended sphere measuring 12 feet in diameter and comprised of 13,221 LED displays encapsulated in 5,422 feet of acrylic tubing. The installation is a metaphor for the dialogue that is still possible between humans and their environment, a technology-enabled meditation guided by the installation’s inexplicable aliveness.
The exhibition program includes performances by Thomas Ankersmit (modular synthesizers), Antenes (hand-made modular performance), Leah Beeferman (multimedia presentation), Leila Bordreuil (cello), MV Carbon (sound, video), Brian Chase (drums & drones), Hope Ginsburg & Joshua Quarles (sound, video, breathing on land), Daniel Neumann (electronics), Matana Roberts (avant-saxophone), Stephen Vitiello (field recordings), Steve Roggenbuck (spoken word), Maria Chavez (turntables), Phillip Stearns (electronics), and others.
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