[..#..#...]

Acrylic on vinyl, wood, metal, and looped audio, dimensions variable, 2012
Preternatural St. Brigid’s Center for the Arts, Ottawa, Canada

[..#..#...] addresses the architecture of St. Brigid’s, its history as a church, and the surrounding topography. The installation includes a series of sculptural and acoustical punctuations throughout the space that collectively form an immersive environment.

In [..#..#...], the ethereal space between the altar and the church organ of St. Brigid's is called to attention through a language that explores color, tone, geometry, and time. The sculptural and sound components of the installation compliment, and in some areas, contrast and contradict the spaces they highlight. By actualizing this ethereal and aural resonance in what may appear to be an overtly ‘synthetic’ and ‘artificial’ manifestation, I bring the history, aura, and mysticism of the space back to a state that is tangible.

From the balcony of the church (by the organ) emanates a sound projection—a looped composition made with variations of the ‘E’ key. (The E key is closest to the color yellow, which is a major part of the installation). By using new technology, it emulates the function of the organ that is currently non-functional, thus hinting at the past. At the opposite end by the altar, sits a large upward sloping and tapering plank/platform, constructed specifically in response to, and for the site. In between these opposite ends is an interspersion of trapezoidal vinyl shapes that hang from the pews. By treating the pews like a large musical sheet in which the vinyl serves as musical notes, I create a layout that mimics the looped sound composition

The trapezoidal shapes of the platform and the vinyl are a nod to the system of Linear Perspective, the rules of which were discovered during the Renaissance, a time of reasoning and logic. If made physical, the Vanishing Point of the shapes orthogonal lines would fall around the altar, a common approach in early Renaissance art.

Yellow, the dominant color in [..#..#...] is psychologically connected to growth and life and is a direct response to St. Brigid’s, the patron saint for creativity. Further, these blasts and pulses of yellow serve to compliment and energize the surrounding grey of Ottawa in December.

Through this work, I hope to add a new energy to the area, create an open space for contemplation, and finally, a dialogue between the architecture of the current with the mysticism of the past.