More Public Art in “Our” Tree
Last week a new art exhibit was unveiled on Governors Island and a new work was installed in the tree we used for Watershed. Turns out I’m not the only artist inspired by that particular tree out of all the hundreds of trees on the island. However, it is a bit out of the ordinary to have two artists doing pieces in the same tree considering the wide variety of works in both festivals.
The piece by Klaus Weber is a giant wind chime tuned to a musica tritone, a musical interval that spans
three whole tones, producing a dissonant and melancholic effect. According to the website this sound,
…has been
considered a “dangerous” sound since the Middle Ages, and was thought
to arouse or summon the Devil. Some sources say it was outlawed for
evoking sexual feelings in its listeners, while others believed that
musicians could be excommunicated from the church for using it. Large
Dark Wind Chime (Tritone Westy) is situated amongst rolling hills,
houses of worship, Victorian buildings, and ornamental cannons,
reminding us of the spirit of the age and uncertainty of our times,
from global wars to economic recession and the battles that rage
between good and evil.
The exhibit, This World and Nearer Ones, is produced by arts organization, Creative Time, which is behind many of the public works of art in New York City including the moving The Twin Towers of Light at the World Trade Center and the new Spencer Finch piece entitled The River that Flows Both Ways, recently unveiled on the High Line.
The exhibit is accessible Fridays through Sundays throughout the summer.