COLORED ICED WALL @ The Snow Show

Commission: Lance Fung Gallery + Finnish Cuture Ministery 
Type: Art Installation
Location: Kemi, Finland
Design: 2004
Exhibited: The Snow Show


Ingredients: Water, red dye, 120cm x 270cm concrete forms, rebars, fluorescent tubes. Pick a very cold location (Lapland). Clear up a piece of land 35x10m. Build 2 parallel forms 25m long and 2.70m apart. Wait until the temperature drops to about –27°. Mix water with just enough dye to give it the right color (not too much or the walls will be opaque). Pour water-dye mix in 30cm-high layers from top of mold. Make sure each layer is completely frozen before you pour the next. Once you reach the top layer, lay rebars between the walls. Let top layer freeze w/ rebars in it. Take down mold. Retain some forms to display process. Once the forms are removed, use part of them to create a wandering path through the space between the walls. Stand the forms in-between the walls attaching their bottom to the ground and their top to the upper rebars. Starting at one end, place the forms parallel to the walls. As you proceed, start turning them randomly till they are perpendicular to the walls. Attach fluorescent tubes to some of the forms. Turn the lights on. Enjoy the space within the walls and their red glare.