Constructing Darkness

Nickel plated steel, looped audio, dimensions variable, 2021
AGENDA, Portland, OR.

“Necessity is the mother of futile dodges. The basis of invention is science, and science is almost wholly the outgrowth of pleasurable intellectual curiosity.”
-Alfred North Whitehead

Born of pandemic challenges and creative necessity, Avantika Bawa and AGENDA collaborated to enable this artist to continue working in an imaginative and completely unprecedented way. Bawa and curator Jamie Wilson met at AGENDA’s inaugural opening in October of 2020. AGENDA’s space is small and lends itself to installation, but would it be possible to exhibit the work of Avantika Bawa in a meaningful way? Bawa asked “What if we painted the whole gallery black?” and the brainstorming began. What resulted is this exploration and response to the quiet and intimate architecture of AGENDA.

Constructing Darkness is the fifth of the ‘Scaffold Series’. In these site-specific installations, utilitarian structures are transformed into objects of beauty by their altering color and formation in response to site. By so doing they cease to be objects of function and become instead visual representations of planning and possibility represented in small-scale sculpture. Accompanying the installation is a looped audio of field recordings from scaffolds being installed and printed. This show also includes a series of embossing’s on paper made by using disassembled fragments of original prototypes.

Collectively, the ‘Scaffold Series’ has enabled Bawa to explore the endless possibilities of a single structure by pushing permutations and combinations of color, form and scale in relation to location. While responding to the topography and geography of each site as well as limitations posed by the pandemic, a new iteration of the series is manifested. Bawa intends to expand upon this small-scale series by exploring new terrain and different ways of configuring these installations.

Bawa wishes to acknowledge Noah Matteucci, who inspired and assisted with the printing and production of the miniature scaffolds. Each unit is printed in nickel plated steel, and approximately 2.25X3X4 inches.