September 12-25, 2007
Installation open daily, 10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Main Quad
Performances on Wednesday, September 19
11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Neuhoff Sculpture Court
Free, fully accessible, and open to the public
The Mead Art Museum and the Amherst College Department of Theater and Dance will present REVEALED, a site-adaptive public art installation and performance event. Central to the installation and event is a walk-in camera obscura which will be erected on the Main Quad of the College. The optical effects of this centuries-old device of natural cinema alter perceptions of space and scale so that a familiar scene appears transformed. At Amherst, Koplowitz will focus the camera’s lens on the façade of the Mead Art Museum and the landmark Stearns Bell Tower. Invited to walk through the camera obscura, visitors will find that their view of the Mead Art Museum is literally turned upside down.
While in residence, Koplowitz will create a site-specific performance installation involving Amherst College students and other members of the community on the Neuhoff Sculpture Court in front of the Mead on Wednesday, September 19, with performances at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The Amherst College installation of REVEALED is Koplowitz’s third iteration of the project, which was previously installed at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, and on the Lower Promenade in front of the World Financial Center in Battery Park City, New York City. At each venue, the artist carefully selects the location and fixed perspective of the camera obscura, and documents the installation in a limited edition photographic portfolio.
According to Koplowitz, REVEALED attempts to give the viewer “time to look at the world, at this specific place in time, simultaneously with two sets of eyes. With all of our current technological feats, it is hopefully a reminder of how powerful and striking pure light and the absence of light can be.”
Stephan Koplowitz is a site/media/performance artist who creates works for the stage, screen, web, and architecture. The recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (2003), an Alpert Award for the Arts (2004), a New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”) for Sustained Achievement, and six National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Choreography (1988-97). Koplowitz has produced more than 50 works for site and stage in Europe and across the United States. In 2006, Koplowitz was appointed Dean of the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).
The installation of REVEALED at Amherst College is made possible through the generous support of the Office of the Dean of the Faculty and Amherst Art Fund.