Triad 2009

Amanda Long
Gestures 13: July 24, 2009 – January 10, 2010
Materials
3-channel video, sculpture

In a dark space video is light and light draws the human eye in like insects It is a bit of science fiction and...

Artist Statement

In a dark space video is light and light draws the human eye in like insects. It is a bit of science fiction and fantasy to accept an animated surface as a part of a permanent structure, as if we could slice through the skin of the physical world to expose an alternate world underneath. With this intention, I remove video from the screen and project it like a living, breathing mural on a wall, into a glass orb as a god, or into a hole in the floor leading to another universe. There is a sense of magic I wish for in the real world. Fundamental physical motions such as breathing, blinking, flowers opening and closing, the sun rising and setting, my heart beating – these cyclical processes inspire my animations. The body and the landscape get mixed up in my mind. The French painter Claude Lorrain spent mornings in a foggy field looking to see how the landscape changed as the sun moved, watching the sun filter through the atmosphere. I am looking to create a similar feeling with video installation, to place viewers in sight of a window to an idealized moment, a dreamscape where love and nature conquers all. Triad is a color organ. Each of three pyramids emits a pure tone and color. When all three pyramids turn on in unison they form a chord, a major triad. The code is as follows: C violet, D blue, E green, F yellow G orange, A red, B magenta. The pyramids will send their message to outer space from the basement of the Mattress Factory, in hopes of making the mothership connection.

About the Artist

Amanda Long is an artist, animator, mirror-maker, lover of the earth and sun and the animals, a dreamer of fairy tale visions. Her video installations investigate light, color, questions of faith and why we exist. She fantasizes about giving technology a soul and making peace between humans and nature. Amanda received her BS in Cell and Molecular Biology at Tulane University in 2000 and her BFA in Sculpture and Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2005. She received her MFA from Carnegie Mellon University.