Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowship

(dis)mantle, The Luminary Center for the Arts, Saint Louis | 2010

The human need for quietness and stillness inspired this site-specific installation created in a former chapel. I transformed the architecture by misaligning the chapel’s symmetry, edges, and wall angles. Natural light caused a diffuse glow and the air was mildly scented with pure frankincense and myrrh. The resulting sensation of the tilt of the room was subtle, yet anchored by a single plumb line hung at the height of an adult viewer’s heart. One viewer at a time was admitted to the installation and invited to stay as long as desired. Sensorial perception and awareness were heightened in viewers who reported an experience that was both meditative and disorienting. With a clear spiritual context, the installation offered a place to contemplate what we perceive as true in relation to physical reality.

Jill Downen

By Ivy Cooper featured in Art in America

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(dis)Mantle

Animation of sunlight moving through installation

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