poster for Heather Nicol “Soft Spin”

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Six immense, swirling, fabric forms will be suspended from the top of the ten-story Winter Garden at Brookfield Place as part of the U.S. premiere of Soft Spin, a sculptural and sound installation by acclaimed Canadian artist Heather Nicol.

Commissioned by Arts Brookfield, the installation will be unveiled in conjunction with the opening of Brookfield Place, New York City’s premier new shopping, dining, and cultural destination on March 26. Last month, the New York Times highlighted Brookfield Place in its list of the top places in the world to visit in 2015.

Reminiscent of skirts, Nicol’s fantastical, billowing sculptures feature hemlines of up to 94-feet in length. Boasting a range of bold spring colors like turquoise, pink, and green, Soft Spin offers a stunning contrast to the iconic venue’s natural coloration and hard architectural lines.

Enticing passersby to engage with the swirling spectacle above, singing voices will intermittently emanate from the forms. Playing with the juxtaposition of private voices in the Winter Garden’s grand public space, Nicol said the audio is inspired by “the secret bravado of singing show tunes in the shower.”

Mirroring the choral tradition of call and response, five of the sculptures will hang near the atrium’s wall overlooking the Hudson River, while one will tower above the Winter Garden’s grand marble staircase. Complementing the Winter Garden’s majesty, the enormous sculptures range in height from 22- to 28-feet high, with some consisting of almost 165 yards of fabric. Overall, more than 750 yards of industrial and domestic textiles were used to create the installation.

“Heather Nicol’s installation is an extraordinary visual and aural experience that captivates audiences in a way that is simultaneously grand and intimate,” said Debra Simon, Vice President and Artistic Director of Arts Brookfield. “Soft Spin perfectly demonstrates that Brookfield Place is the dynamic, innovative, cultural hub of Downtown Manhattan.”

“Soft Spin encourages us to reflect on the intersection of our private and public selves, our daily navigation of social expectations, and our desire to be seen and heard,” said Nicol. “I am thrilled to bring this feast for the eyes and ears to one of New York City’s most dramatic landmarks.”

Nicol is an interdisciplinary artist and independent curator based in Toronto. She has created site-specific installations for major public and private venues throughout the world, including Brookfield Place Toronto, the Great Hall at Toronto’s Union Station, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as venues in France and Germany. Her curatorial projects have often explored site-specific conditions as found in decommissioned, underutilized, repurposed and educational locations, and have fostered opportunities for large groups of artists working across a wide range of disciplines.

An earlier version of Soft Spin, consisting of five sculptures without audio, was originally commissioned by Arts Brookfield for Allen Lambert Galleria at Brookfield Place Toronto last year.

Media

Schedule

from March 27, 2015 to April 24, 2015

Artist(s)

Heather Nicol

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