earthtime 1.8 RENWICK, WASHINGTON D.C., 2015

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DESCRIPTION

The Smithsonian American Art Museum commissioned Janet Echelman to create an artwork to transform the Renwick Gallery’s iconic Grand Salon. The WONDER Exhibition, the Renwick Gallery’s first after an intensive 2-year renovation, “transforms the entire museum into an immersive artwork.” Echelman’s sculpture has since been acquired by the museum for their permanent collection and will be on display from September 2020 through 2022.

Echelman created a soft, voluminous net sculpture that surges through the air of the hundred-foot length Grand Salon, intersecting with its historic cove ceiling. The complex form is composed of many layers of twines, knotted together in vibrant hues that interplay with colored light and “shadow drawings” on the walls. A carefully choreographed lighting program subtly changes the experience of sculpture with every perspective.

The artist invites viewers to lie down on a soft 4,000 square-foot textile carpet which echoes the organic topography of the aerial form in monochromatic hues, providing a playful contrast to the vibrant hues of the sculpture’s 51 miles of twine above. Here viewers can become immersed inside the installation and find a contemplative moment to observe the dynamically-changing shadow drawings which project in vivid colors from wall to wall, unfolding gradually. The color permutations take as long to unfold as it takes to watch a sunset. The flooring is composed of regenerated nylon fibers repurposed from discarded fishing nets.

Echelman’s sculpture installation examines the complex interconnections between human beings and our physical world, and reveals the artist's fascination with the measurement of time. The volumetric form suspended from the vaulted ceiling of this historic Grand Salon is inspired by the data recorded March 11, 2011, following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that rippled across the Pacific Ocean toward Japan. The geologic event was so powerful it shifted the earth on its axis and shortened the day by 1.8 millionths of a second, lending this work its title Earthtime 1.8 Renwick. This knotted meditation explores the contrast between the forces we can understand and control with those we cannot, and the concerns of our daily existence within the larger cycles of time.

MATERIALS AND SIZE

Fiber, Colored LED Lighting, Textile Flooring, and Textile filled with Close-cell Beads. Fibers are braided with polyester and UHMWPE (Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene)
Dimensions of net: 78 ft. length x 33 ft. width x 20 ft. depth
Installation Dimensions: 100 ft. length x 40 ft. width x 40 ft. height

CREDITS

Artist: Janet Echelman
Studio Echelman Team: Daniel Zeese, Melissa Henry, Cameron Chateauneuf, Lucca Townsend
Commissioned by: The Smithsonian American Art Museum
Engineering: Arup: Clayton Binkley, Patrick McCafferty
Simulation Software Engineering: Autodesk
Lighting: Arup: Brian Stacy, Jake Wayne, Robbie Hayes
Photography: Brian Stacy, Ron Cogswell