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The Expanding Club, 2007
Museum of Arts and Design, New York City, New York
Hand-knotted nylon net, steel fittings
Courtesy of the Florence Lynch Gallery
Project Sheet
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First inspired to make the choreography
of the wind visible when watching Indian fisherman pulling in their
catch, Echelman states, "I
was mesmerized by the form of their nets and the fact that they were so
changeable and flexible. They became this three-dimensional form that
had no weight."
The funnel-like space of the Museum's atrium
suggested a cloud and "with
recent news reports of North Korea's nuclear weapons testing, it became
a nuclear mushroom cloud" rendered in the flag colors of each of the
countries known to have detonated such weapons in chronological order:
United States, Soviet Union (represented by Russia's flag), United
Kingdom, France, People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and North
Korea.
"I was surprised to discover that all four
flags of countries from the earlier phase were composed of the same colors-red,
white, and blue. The last four countries had more earthy colors- introducing
green and orange and yellow. I began to wonder what visual affinities
the first countries might share, and whether the last four countries'
earthy colors might be related to the fact that they were formed more
recently."
In this work Echelman is "interpreting
the most violent weapon that we humans have ever created, using one
of the oldest and most humble techniques of tying things together."
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