Spencer Finch "The Brain — is wider than the Sky —"
Postmasters Gallery
This event has ended.
In the three new projects that comprise "The Brain — is wider than the Sky —" Spencer Finch continues to explore the nature of color, light, memory and perception.
366 (Emily Dickinson’s Miraculous Year) is based on the year 1862, Emily Dickinson’s annus mirabilis, when she wrote an amazing 366 poems in 365 days. Finch has created a candle sculpture, a real-time memorial to that year, which burns for exactly one year. The sculpture is comprised of 366 individual candles arranged in linear sequence, each of which burns for 24 hours. The color of each candle matches a color mentioned in the corresponding poem; poems in which no color is mentioned are made out of natural paraffin. On each day of the exhibition a new candle will be ignited from the previous candle as it burns out.
The Shield of Achilles (Night Sky over Troy 1184 B.C.) is a three-dimensional, illuminated star map of the night sky as it appeared during the siege of Troy. This star map, comprised of 384 cans hanging from the ceiling, each illuminated by a single light bulb and punctured with a small hole representing a single star, is based on the Almagest, Ptolemy’s original catalog of the 48 constellations named by the ancient Greeks. The magnitude and wavelength of each star is accurately depicted by the color of the light and the size of the pinhole. The hanging height of each star is determined by its distance (in light years) from earth.
In Paper Moon (Studio Wall at Night) Finch precisely re-creates the shadows cast on his studio wall by exterior streetlights and passing cars. It is a very boring piece and clearly not for everyone.
Media
Schedule
from October 24, 2009 to November 28, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-10-24 from 18:00 to 20:00