On Tuesday night, artists Micah and Whitney Stansell presented Inversion (with sky + chromatic clock), an immersive installation above Cherry Street near Harrison Square on Georgia Tech’s campus. The piece is composed of thousands of sheets of reclaimed copy paper found in Georgia Tech Library’s recycling bins that are then strung up as a kinetic screen above the road. As night falls, projections of daytime skies and clouds illuminate the installation, creating a dynamic interaction between physical materials and digital media. When the wind blows through the papers they flutter along with all the leaves in the neighboring trees.
This installation represents one aspect of the Artist-in-Residency Program at Georgia Tech that aims to engage students with resident artists as they work on cutting edge public art. Funded by EVPR and GVU/iPat grants, the program provides unique insight for students about public art by inviting artists to live and work on the campus at Georgia Tech.
The pilot program kicked off this spring with husband and wife duo Micah and Whitney Stansell. The Stansells frequently collaborate and work in many mediums including sculpture, fiber, drawing, painting, film, and installations such as Inversion. Often featuring themes of tradition, history, and place, their award-winning work is also included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Cornell University, SCAD Atlanta and SCAD Hong Kong.
Gregory Zinman, Curatorial Co-Director of the Artists-in-Residence Program at Georgia Tech, commended the Stansells for their commitment to the Atlanta art scene as well as the transformative nature of Inversion on the Georgia Tech campus.
The installation took four days to complete, with each line painstakingly assembled and attached to the apparatus. Zinman popped a bottle of champagne and shared a toast with the artists to celebrate the completion of this engaging and ephemeral work.
Experience Inversion for yourself on the Georgia Tech campus now through May 8, and check out some photographs from opening night below.
