WONDER - Janet Echelman

WONDER
 

Janet Echelman, 1.8, 2015, detail

1. a cause of astonishment or admiration

Janet Echelman, 1.8, 2015, detail

2. the quality of exciting amazed admiration

Janet Echelman, 1.8, 2015, light and shadows detail

3. rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience

Janet Echelman, 1.8, 2015, light and shadows detail

 

The powers that be at the Smithsonian Institute's Renwick Gallery must have had the Merriam-Webster Dictionary's definition in mind when they set about selecting artists to participate in the Renwick's grand re-opening in November 2015 - as did the artists when they set about creating their wonder inducing works.

Janet Echelman, 1.8, 2015,  light and shadows detail

I traveled to Washington, DC in early December to spend a few days with Lotta Helleberg (that's Lotta seated in the very first photo) as well as to peruse WONDER.

 

Janet Echelman, 1.8, 2015, detail

Janet Echelman

1.8, 2015 

knotted and braided fiber with programmable lighting

and wind movement above printed textile flooring 

Courtesy of Janet Echelman, Inc. 

Echelman's woven sculpture corresponds to a map of the energy released across the Pacific Ocean during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history. The event was so powerful it shifted the earth on its axis and shortened the day March 11, 2011, by 1.8 millionths of a second, lending this work its title. Waves taller than the 100-foot length of this gallery ravaged the east coast of Japan, reminding us that what is wondrous can equally be dangerous. (accompanying statement in the Renwick)

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1.8 is the second Janet Echelman sculpture that I have had the good fortune to experience. Last June, I went to Boston for As If It Were Already Here, her installation over the Rose Kennedy Greenway. To see my post about it, click here. Both works are equally breathtaking, inspiring and whole host of other adjectives.

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Stay tuned for more posts about WONDER. I'm returning this weekend to hear Maya Lin speak at the Renwick. 

"As If It Were Already Here"

Last Sunday, my friend Deb Jansen and I set out for Boston to view Janet Echelman's As If It Were Already Here which is currently installed over the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

After giving Deb an imprompto tour of Boston (thanks to the gps on my iPhone not working so well in the tunnel...or possibly user error...still not sure which), we finally ended up on the correct road and were greeted with this sight. 

 There are advantages to being stopped at a red light. Twice.

We parked the car and ventured into the Greenway for a closer look. As If It Were Already Here is simply magnificent.

Its movement in the breeze was mesmerizing and bestowed a sense of calm and great joy.

Being below it and watching the movement brought to mind Ann Hamilton's Event of a Thread that I experienced at the Park Center Armory, NYC in 2013.

Both pieces generated the joy and freedom of childhoood when you lay in the grass to watch the clouds dance and play on the wind currents overhead.

I found myself in awe of Janet's creative vision, her fearlessness to just do it, to work large on such an incredibly grand scale.

Her attention to detail is just as impressive. I wonder if she sees the finished piece in her creative mind and figures out how to do it?

Or do you think she begins with a sketch?

Regardless of how Janet Echelman begins, the end result is something everyone needs to experience. It's the best of childhood. It's water suspended in the air and turning prismatic in the sun, reflecting off the surrounding buildings. It's exquisite.

opening quote of Janet Echelman's presentation at the Fuller Craft Museum

Sufficiently awed by As It It Were Already Here, Deb and I ventured into nearby Brockton, MA to hear Janet Echelman speak at the Fuller Craft Museum. We came away dazed, inspired, even more in awe and yearning to revisit the installation.



If you ever have the opportunity to hear Janet Echelman speak about creativity and her work and/or see and experience one of her works, go. Until then, enjoy her TED talk.


To see my photos larger, just click on any of them and enjoy the slide show.