Exhibition

The Value of Water

By The Reverend Canon Tom Miller

excerpt from Water Matters: Why We Need to Act Now to Save our Most Critical Resource

The exhibition, the largest to ever appear at the Cathedral, will feature the work of 41 contemporary visual artists, including Mark Rothko, Jenny Holzer, Wiliam Kentridge, Kiki Smith, Bill Viola, Pat Steir, Gregory Amenoff, and others whose work focuses on depicting and reflecting on water.

The 18th century philosopher Novalis wrote, “Our bodies are molded rivers.” Such poetic sentiment is easy to appreciate even in the less-than-poetic age in which we live. We are generally aware of our bodies as organic compositions attuned to the dynamics of nature. It is more difficult, perhaps, to think of buildings as organic bodies in quite the same way. Imagine, for instance, streams of water coursing through the seemingly solid stones of The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; water rising up through the pillars like sap in a soaring forest.

Outside, the Gothic-styled Cathedral seems impressively massive, built to withstand the tempering of time. Inside, the breathtaking view from the Bronze Doors to the far end of the building presents an even more compelling vision: stone, wood and glass, all hard materials of the Earth that have been molded into an architectural body of wondrous dimension. So, where’s the water, that element that makes it a living cathedral rather than just a pile of stones?

The simple answer is that there’s water, water everywhere, as the imagination might fashion it, since none of the stone, wood or glass would exist without the presence and power of water over geological time. As biblical tradition has it, human beings bear the image of their Creator. Perhaps in like manner, all the materials in the Cathedral bear the mark of water, that first element of Creation from which all things were made.

Another simple answer is that water is at the very foundation of the Cathedral. The land on which it stands is dotted with wells, springs, and underground streams. For decades water for the Baptismal Font was drawn from one of them. So, even while we think of the building as the solid monumental body it surely is, we can also envision the water-laced land from which it rises.

Shortly there will be yet another answer to the question, “ Where’s the water in the Cathedral?” “The Value of Water,” an ambitious installation of art opens in September, 2011. Works by painters, sculptors, and media artists, including the seven presented in the following pages, will be installed in bays of the nave, in various chapels, and along the walls of the Great Crossing. As interpreters of the unseen, artists will help us to see what has been there all along; to strengthen our awareness of water, and to prompt our imaginations in the contemplation of water, from wells and underground springs to surging seas and mighty rivers. With this collection of powerful presentations, there really will be water, water everywhere.

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, New York 10025 General: 212 316-7490
Tours: 212 932-7347
info@stjohndivine.org
© 2007 Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

ART|SCI CENTER GALLERY AT CALIFORNIA NANOSYSTEMS INSTITUTE

Exhibition by PARSONS HYBRID WORLDS: NANO BIO + ART Parsons class with Professor Victoria Vesna

Exhibition “Genesis” by artist in residence in the department of Design | Media Arts. Fulbright scholar, Ukraine.

Artist Lecture at 2:00pm in Fowler Museum, A103B Exhibition Opening at 6:00pm in EDA, Broad Arts Center

Location: EDA, Broad Art center.

Oksana Chepelyk, a Design | Media Arts Fulbright visiting artist, presents Genesis, a multi-part video and photography installation that examines the genetic currency of the nation. A real-time data stream monitoring newborn births creates an infant data base, triggering visual changes on projected images of children around the world. Each act of childbirth adds up to the collective image of a newborn baby.

By Bruce Drummond and Nick Hardeman

http://social.sqncr.com/

Location: CNSI Gallery on the 5th Floor
Beginning June 28, 2010
Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday, 10 am - 4 pm

social sqncr is an interactive audio-visual installation that aims to make people more aware of the act of creating their public identity.

To create their ‘identity’, participants use their bodies to physically interact with a pseudo-musical instrument projected in a physical space to create virtual musical creatures based on their movements. The instrument consists of eight zones that participants interact with which influence the shape, movement, and aural properties of the resulting entity.

Once complete, the system captures an image of the participant to attach to the creature which is then set free into an eco-system inhabited by similar entities. The entities react to one another, much like human beings in a social network. Participants can cause environmental disturbances by physically interacting with the projection.
The physical movements required of participants ensures a high level of investment in the process, causing a heightened awareness of their creation, and thus themselves. Watching their entity interact with other entities is a reflection of their own interaction in their social networks.

Bio:

Bruce Drummond and Nick Hardeman are both recent graduates from the MFA Design and Technology program at Parsons, in New York. They experiment with new technologies to produce immersive, interactive audio visual experiences.

Contact: http://sqncr.com/social/contact/