Recently I was invited to contribute to PACCIN’s website an article on an interesting project I had managed. In over 14 years as Chief Preparator at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College numerous demanding installations have taken place all with their memorable processes. It’s not easy to isolate one above others for discussion but the consummate aesthetic, budgetary, design, materials and functionality challenges of Leandro Erlich’s Port of Reflections make it a compelling subject to write about and, I hope, to read about.
In 2017 the Neuberger Museum of Art exhibited Argentine artist Leandro Erlich’s installation Port of Reflections. Erlich’s installations contend with illusion and Port of Reflections, an installation piece occupying roughly 3,500 square feet, featured five row boats moving as if in water. The boats were situated within a rectangular “pool” surrounded by a three foot high gangway permitting visitors to view the piece from all four sides. The boats occupied a middle space between the gangway and gallery floor. A darkened environment, precisely directed lighting, electronic controls that gently rocked the boats in different rhythms and ripple-contoured “reflections” of the boats and their oars all supported an illusion that the boats were floating in water.
Leandro Erlich Port of Reflections, 2017. Photo by Jerry Thompson, 2017
Leandro Erlich was the fourth recipient of the Roy R. Neuberger Exhibition Prize, awarded to an innovative, international artist for an early career survey exhibition and monographic catalog. Erlich visited the museum to explore what might be a good project here. Exhibition Preparation Department was informed of the institution’s plan to exhibit Port of Reflections approximately 18 months ahead of the installation at which point preliminary Q & A with the artist and his studio team and basic research for budgeting got underway. Port of Reflections was exhibited twice prior to our presentation: first in Seoul, South Korea and next in Buenos Aires, Argentina where it was modified to accommodate that venue as well as to satisfy Erlich’s own reconsideration of what was working and not working in support of successful illusion. Examples of modifications were things like mounting the boats on free standing vertical posts versus the previous arms that projected from the underside of the gangway and the addition of motion via electromagnetic controls.
As our dialogue with Erlich progressed, it became evident his pursuit of a still more perfect illusion would involve further modifications for our installation, chiefly, a more pervasively darkened space, even more stringently directed lighting, a floor to the “pool” that was completely light absorbing and devoid of texture and a single entrance/ exit point to minimize light spill from outside the room. These more technical aspects to the installation were, over time, developed primarily by Erlich’s studio team in continual exchange with our side for product and budget feasibility. Typically, what was communicated was a desired effect leaving it to a force comprised of two co-curators, an Associate Preparator and myself to scheme solutions with the latter two of us doing the product research and designing the various structures of the installation. Our materials budget was $50,000.
Early design plan
At the Neuberger Port of Reflections was installed in a 5,000 square foot (approx. 85’ x 58’) gallery with 20 foot high walls and a (thankfully) black, metal cross-beam theater style ceiling. A floor to ceiling wall constructed across the width of the room, minus 4 feet or so for entry, bisected the gallery into an outer third purposed for access to the exhibition and didactic space and an inner two thirds for the artist’s installation. The floor to ceiling wall was not a standard metal frame and sheetrock construction because the cost to build and surface finish that option at 20’ x 58’ exceeded our budget. To divide the inner and outer spaces, our partition needed to factor in rigid protection for any person standing on the gangway although it wasn’t necessary to have rigid structure above the average height of people. Our solution utilized MDO plywood oriented vertically. A two ply run of ¾” sheets with offset joints was set into aluminum “U” channel anchored to the floor. Additionally, the panels were lag screwed to the adjacent faces of steel shelves supporting the gangway. The rigid eight foot high structure was ultimately concealed between a pair of immense tensioned curtains, a black interior side extending from the gangway floor to the ceiling and a white exterior side extending from the gallery floor to ceiling, thus creating a partition that met aesthetic, functional and budgetary requirements.
Clockwise from top left: view of the MDO partition and aluminum guides; view of the exterior side of curtain prior to final tensioning;
cast vinyl posts and steel spines; boats and mount sections prior to welding (they were shipped as separated components). These and all following photos by NMA 2017.
Clockwise from top left: layout of industrial shelves; oversize plywood subfloor; spacing and nailing cedar boards.
After all the preceding parts were in place, we were able to begin installing the main event - five fiberglass boats and pairs of oars with their rippled “reflections”. The boat parts connected efficiently with bolts. Once paired, each boat and reflection needed to be lifted by 4-6 people onto its mounts. Each mount was a three foot high post with a robust, spring supported, attachment plate at the top end for fastening into the framework recessed into the concavity of the “reflection”; and at the base crossed 3” x 5” steel tubes welded to the center post. Surprisingly, after the boats were secure on their mounts each of the five paired units was light enough to nudge around for final placement, however the boats remained tilted and canted until weights were affixed with gaff tape or zip ties to framework underneath the “reflection” to achieve the desired balance for each sculpture.
The preceding established the core of the installation. What remained were details and features to finesse the illusion beginning with integrating electromagnetic motion devices that controlled the boats’ movements. These were designed and built by engineers working with Erlich. They were compact devices that could fit in your hand and were concealed in the underside of each boat – too bad we didn’t have a mechanic’s creeper for that. The electronics were hard wired into house power. The engineers dealt with the tuning of these parts coordinating with us any last adjustments to the positions of the sculptures since next steps would preclude opportunity to do so.
Much of the lighting had been pre-positioned however, final adjusting was a delicate and hyper –sensitive process both literally, as we navigated our GS1920 at full extension around the layout, and more figuratively as we sculpted the particular effects the artist desired: fundamentally that every beam from every light can be precisely contoured to the boat so there would be no shadows. This was an interesting philosophical choice since shadows exist in reality and the illusion presumably sought to grasp the “real.” An examination of verisimilitude is, I suppose, subject matter for a different paper however if you care to see a thoughtful exploration of the issue you might enjoy the essays in Umberto Eco’s Travels in Hyperreality. Nevertheless, the desired effect was achieved with much Cinefoil and achy arms. Some of the light cans in the ceiling grid were directly above the gangway and out of reach of the scissor lift’s extended cab. It may not be judicious to commit to print how we got that work done!
Lighting done – check. Scissor lift out of here – check. Last detail to execute was the floor. The desired effect, a modification specific to this installation, was to eliminate any visible detection of the cross base of the mount which was a sizeable and very much a physical presence. Our solution was to raise the plane of the floor to the 3” height of the cross brace and we accomplished this using sheets of 3” thick polystyrene arrayed side by side over most of the floor, and then custom cut and pieced to fill each of the spaces nosing into the 20 corners of the five different cross braces. A nod to those 1” Olfa blades on that work! After the floor’s topography was unified three huge rolls of light absorbing black fabric were laid down, smoothed and fitted around the mount post. This same material was hung as a short drape under the gangway to conceal the structure of the industrial shelving, and electrical paths.
Reflection and supporting base. At right, items staged for installation.
Based on the constellation of budget, design and space factors, our layout of Port of Reflections was boxed in by three permanent walls with the partition wall at the front and the entry/ exit opening situated at a far end of it. Consequently, access to the interior, both for ongoing installation, dressing and lighting, and ultimately for the viewing public, was only possible along the front and although it was an arguably problematic choice, and one not under the control of Preparation, the decision was made to limit access to a single entrance. To facilitate this a section of the gangway was assembled to be freestanding, i.e. not integrated by overlapping flooring, so it could be left out and inserted at the end of work finalizing everything behind the wall. Outside the wall, visitors entered the installation via a ramp that was fabricated by the same metal shop that made the railing spines. The ramp had flooring that matched the gangway.
In and of itself no one task in this installation was out of the realm of the ordinary but as a whole workflow in monumental scale, it was a rewarding project for our preparation team who never fail to produce impeccable results. The artist and our curators were thrilled to see their vision come to life and our viewing public responded enthusiastically to the ethereal contrivance of boats suspended in near-total blackness.
In memory of Matthew Mahoney, colleague and friend.
With grateful acknowledgment of the following:
Director Tracy Fitzpatrick, PhD for her support, trust and the freedom for Exhibition Preparation to conduct its mission with creativity.
Chief Curator Helaine Posner and Alex Gordon Curator of Art of the Americas Patrice Giasson, co-curators of Port of Reflections, for invigorating many times over the Neuberger Museum of Art’s exhibition programming with fascinating shows for Exhibition Preparation to work on.
Jacqueline Shilkoff, Curator of New Media and Director of Digital Initiatives, for her insightful consultations interpreting the electrical needs and engineering schematics of Port of Reflections.
Pat Magnani, Registrar, for her diligent and exacting work which brought order to a complicated set of shipments and timetables.
All the preparators who worked on this installation and especially Jose Smith, Associate Preparator, whose creativity and problem solving set the bar at the highest level in our department.
To all my other Neuberger Museum of Art colleagues, every one of whom contribute to the successes of Exhibition Preparation.
David Bogosian has worked with museums and private collections for over 25 years. He has been the Chief Preparator and Director of Facilities at the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase New York for the past 14 years.