The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios, Curated by Eileen Tognini
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
The cavernous space that is the Skybox is filled with an art installation that is ethereal, thought provoking and mysterious. Large domes, tunnels and pods of thin plastic sheeting is sealed with tape and puffed up with air. Two small powerful fans keep the entire structure inflated and wandering though it is a magical experience. The artist Jason Hackenwerth explained how he planned out the elaborate labyrinth.
“I started thinking of this space months ago, as soon as I started playing with this material I started imagining it in this space. My studio isn’t nearly big enough to doing something anywhere close to this big but I was able to make some pillows and things with this material and get them to float and fly with the slightest of air current. So, I knew there was potential and I just kept experimenting with smallish kind of things in the studio.”
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
“My studio has great windows and a wonderful breeze and I was able to get all these things floating. I made some YouTube videos which helped me get some other work. But I immediately called Eileen and asked, ‘Can I come up to the Skybox and bring a suitcase full of plastic and tape and just try something and see if it works. If so, then maybe I could get some shows with it?’ And she said, ‘Well, that sounds really cool Jay. So, let’s do a show.’ I said, ‘Well? you mean next weekend?’ And she said, ‘No, in the Spring.’ And I said, ‘Duh! Doi! OK.'”
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
“And since then I’ve been really fortunate. I showed this work at the Victoria and Albert in London. And I showed it at Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow. And I showed it in a beautiful space in Savannah, GA recently. So, it’s actually my fourth show of this work but it’s the biggest space and it’s the space I originally had in mind when I was first experimenting with it. It’s such an opportunity, it’s so big I can have my cake and eat it, too.
In smaller space I have to pick. Am I going to make a labyrinth? Am I going to make a small chamber? Am I going to make a huge flow-y form? But, here, I can have all of those things. And there’s still enough room to get around it and see it. To be able to go above and see how it lays out is even better. It’s a dream space.”
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
DoN commented on the futuristic look of the piece, as if it’s answering un-asked questions about creating shelter. How long did it take ti install?
“It took four days. Eileen has excellent interns from Moore College of Art And Design. We were all crawling around on our hands and knees all week long taping this all to the floor and getting it just right. There was a lot of measuring involved, you have a one hundred foot length and you have to take four feet off of this, attach it to that and so on. And that’s just stuff I figure out as I go.
I had the idea that I wanted this to be a labyrinth at the back section of this big floor and I wanted the big form at the front. But I wasn’t sure what I wanted the labyrinth to be so I did a lot of walking in circles and I use a long string to make a drawing on the floor. And then when I get the line the way I want it we start to attach the tape and work from that. It’s a real simple process.” – Jason Hackenwerth
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
Curator Eileen Tognini creates opportunities for artists. DoN asked her how she makes it happen?
“That’s what I do. It’s a shared risk. We have a lot to gain and we all have a lot to, you know, experiment. You just have to allow creativity to take the lead. It’s a dance partner. The work was shown in London at the Victoria and Albert, the Garage in Moscow and now here. London, Moscow and Philly! It’s really great. And this is the biggest of all of those shows. It’s great to allow an artist to see their vision through. And to have a place to be able to do it, you know? What a joy.”
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
Eileen Tognini continued, “One of the great things is I get to experience it with you. At least as a finished product, product isn’t the right word, but, it’s final experience. So, it’s interesting, I kind of get that, ‘Aha!’ moment when everybody else does. This is great, I don’t feel like I know any more about this than anyone else walking in here for the first time.”
Do you see applications for this type of art outside the studio?
“Absolutely! I think artists who really work on site specific work, they can really create anywhere. The site, anywhere, becomes their partner and collaborator and they just respond to that. This would be very different in a museum like the Victoria and Albert or in a gallery space, that takes the lead.”
What about the use of lower value materials like the plastic?
“Even for me, I like artists, and you know past shows, they use a singular ordinary material that we’re all familiar with and completely re-imagine it. And turn it into some sort of magical re-invention and this, definition-wise, is using a man-made material, that’s such a humble material, painter’s plastic and tape.
It really pushes us all to think about material and what they are beyond their man-made purpose in life. Whether it’s a tarp, or a plastic bottle, or a balloon, or whatever, I think that’s educational. That’s the approach that I take, it’s a very educational approach, it really opens people’s eyes.” – Eileen Tognini
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios
Jennifer Francis, Philadelphia Museum of Art Marketing Director said, “It reminds me of Anish Kapoor and Antony Gormley. That light in the middle reminds me of when I saw Phil Collins years ago and when he would go off stage he went into a sort of tent thing, so that reminded me of Phil Collins. It’s vast. It’s interesting. It’s good. He’s quite an artist. It’s an amazing experience, It’s absolutely dramatic, a fabulous experience. It’s good.”
The Song of the Silken Mermaid, Jason Hackenwerth, 2424 Studios, 2424 E York St Philadelphia, PA 19125, April 6th, 6 – 9:00pm, April 7th, 12 – 9:00pm.
Written and photographed by DoN Brewer except where noted.
Like DoNArTNeWs Philadelphia Art News Blog on facebook.
Follow DoN on Twitter @DoNNieBeat58
DoNArTNeWS on Tumblr
@donniebeat on Instagram
Previous DoNArTNeWs at www.brewermultimedia.com
Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Statement
{ 0 comments… add one now }
You must log in to post a comment.