Light+Sound

Solitary
Confinement

New York
2007

Upon entering a private pitch dark room, the viewer's gaze is directed towards an inset ‘window’ which appears as a peep-show of an endless field of fluttering, glowing objects.
As the name implies, Solitary Confinement, leads towards isolating each single viewer within a conceptual space, populated inside an inky blackness with what seems to be a field of countless and busily rotating objects. The objects are propelled by a blowing wind not felt on the skin, originating from somewhere above the illusionary velvet depths, reinforcing the mind/body division created by Solitary Confinement between the physical and mental states of being. Inspired by radical introversion, the loaded terminology of the title of the work reference both forms of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and an additional measure of protection for the vulnerable. Confronted with two extremes once inside - darkness and expanse - as the eye searches further for details and symmetries within immaterial, reflected landscapes, the viewer is invited towards paradoxically towards introspection, meditation.

The work itself includes the construction of a curtained off room, handmade pinwheels made of highly reflective materials and light sensitive surfaces. Pinwheels are charged with light, and emit their own illumination. A particular geometric arrangement of reflective transparent mirror is used to create the illusion of stretching depths before an observer - the observer never being present in the reflection.

Exhibited at gallery 3rd Ward, in Brooklyn, New York, during June of 2007 within the group show entitled: Love’s Secret Domain (LSD); Solitary Confinement was shown alongside the work of 20 contemporary artists working in diverse disciplines, and finding coming ground in the exploration of heightened states of mind and the boundaries of the visual. Solitary Confinement was exhibited once more at Point.B Studio, Brooklyn, NY.