RET. INEVITABLE
Commission: Chicago Art Fair
Type: Art Installation
Location: Chicago
Size: 24’ by 30’
Design: 1999
The illuminated core is defined within a larger nondescript conference room at the Chicago Navy Pier.
The core walls are fabricated out of white Spandex, the ceiling is black Spandex, and the core rests on an elevated black platform. Red navigation lights direct people to the entrance of the core where four slits allow entry. Two of the walls contain two slits which are defined by the edges of the difference film/video programs stretching from floor to ceiling. Once inside the 24' by 30' center, video art and short films engulf the viewers. The 360 degree experience alternates the film/video programs in an A-B-A sequence. Control and sound of the film/video are relayed by infra-red remote headsets positioned on the seats. The blue vinyl coated pool lounge chairs increase the fluidity of the visual experience by allowing the viewers to spin in a circle via ball-bearing mounts. The visual programs are rear projected onto the core walls employing large mirrors which in effect double the image size while only consuming half the projection length of the video projector.
The concept of the project investigates the experiential side of viewing cinema. Ret.Inevitable 1.5 explores the physical side of total absorption in a cinematographic space. A barrage of images attempts to saturate the viewer to the point of dematerializing the floor and ceiling. The chairs as literal flotation device also become conceptual devices as the viewers float between the films and images.