Vessel for darkness, 2019 (Bronze, Steel, Electronics 1300mm x 1300mm x various) Underneath the city of Matera there are hidden spaces, dark damp spaces, extending deep down under the city. The vessel for darkness is a container for the dark. Positioned on the floor of the Palazzo Viceconte in, is a heavy cover, in its centre an aperture, a portal, opening through to the world beneath our feet. The cover sits over the opening of a large cistern, a link to the subterranean network of spaces extending across Matera. It serves two opposite purposes; to cover up, to hide and conceal, but also to provide focus, a reference for something possibly much larger. The visitor is invited to extend beyond the physical, accessible, visible space, and reach into this hypogean unknown. The darkness is lost momentarily only to seep back again in an hourly cycle of illumination, revealing the containment of the vessel, and for those who are present to orientate themselves within the much larger whole. Permanent Installation commissioned for Matera 2019, European Capital of Culture by Fondazione SoutHeritage, Curated By Giusy Checola Notes on Invisibility (Leading to Darkness) Catalogue text (PDF)
Vessel for darkness, 2019 (Bronze, Steel, Electronics 1300mm x 1300mm x various) Underneath the city of Matera there are hidden spaces, dark damp spaces, extending deep down under the city. The vessel for darkness is a container for the dark. Positioned on the floor of the Palazzo Viceconte in, is a heavy cover, in its centre an aperture, a portal, opening through to the world beneath our feet. The cover sits over the opening of a large cistern, a link to the subterranean network of spaces extending across Matera. It serves two opposite purposes; to cover up, to hide and conceal, but also to provide focus, a reference for something possibly much larger. The visitor is invited to extend beyond the physical, accessible, visible space, and reach into this hypogean unknown. The darkness is lost momentarily only to seep back again in an hourly cycle of illumination, revealing the containment of the vessel, and for those who are present to orientate themselves within the much larger whole. Permanent Installation commissioned for Matera 2019, European Capital of Culture by Fondazione SoutHeritage, Curated By Giusy Checola
Notes on Invisibility (Leading to Darkness) Catalogue text (PDF)
ANDREW FRIEND