DIVINE MOTION
Suspended atrium sculpture in a college recreation center
Santa Fe, New Mexico
This site responsive sculpture uses the translucent skylight of a two-story atrium as an inverted light table. It was a collaboration with photographer David Cornwell, who photographed over 70 sequences of 30 performers at the Fitness Education Center. The performers included the staff and students using the Center. Black and white photographs were arranged into sequences of activity, and then merged onto color photographs of southwestern skyscapes. The merging took place by scanning, digitizing, and manipulation on computer software. The resulting digital files were output as Cibachrome transparencies, which were laminated and sandwiched in Lucite panels. The supporting structure, made of 1/2” aluminum plate, owes its design to the southwestern architecture of the campus and the surrounding region.
“Divine Motion” is a study of light and the displacement of space by human figures in motion. It documents - and celebrates - the athletes and activities taking place in the Fitness Education Center. As a record of human activity, the sculpture reveals the drama of figurative motion, and it shows just a few of the Fitness Center users inspired to express themselves through physical movement. Its overall impact is as a translucent patchwork “quilt” of human figures in motion - displacing space, expending energy, and expressing the rhythm of human activity.
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