Lauri Hafvenstein
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High Gallery, April 27, 4:31 p.m.
2020
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High Gallery, May 9, 4:15 p.m.
2020
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High Gallery, May 9, 4:19 p.m.
2020
Statement
LIGHT AND COLOR are the focus of this current body of work. Its seed was sown in a 9-inch cardboard box that grew from an early experiment with painted blocks and a programmable bulb into a site-specific, site-responsive, and time-based thesis exhibit designed to fill a 30-foot-high gallery, bathed in sunlight.
Planning from a distance, and to better understand how natural light might interact with my materials, I built a 1:10 scale model of the gallery with special lighting to simulate the summer sunlight streaming through its massive upper window. Research about the building’s 100-year history informed the structure of the work, which is based on the configuration of the original windows. Hanging acrylic panes coated with a dichroic film that is both transparent and reflective cast multi-colored patterns onto the walls of the gallery, shifting according to the position of the viewer, the time of day, and the angle of the light. I was striving for an environment of quietude and observation, one that might offer a moment of wonder and a sense of presence in the space.
What could not have been anticipated was that the evolution of this work, in light of COVID-19, would take it back inside a paper box—albeit a bit larger and of foam core rather than cardboard! My “interventions” in this adapted gallery, however, are no longer constrained by size, weight, nor the fixed location of the building. They can be positioned, easily moved about, and viewed or photographed under simulated or real sunlight entering from any direction, at any time of day.
To my delight, this work in its new form feels to me as ephemeral, mysterious, and dreamlike as I’d hoped it would be in reality—a source of pleasure and solace for me during our time of forced isolation.
Studio Art (Summer Low Residency MFA) Students
Nugent Koscielny - not exhibiting