A sparkling melody deftly dances through the pleasant air on a hilltop in Storm King Art Center’s south fields, a sculpture park based in Mountainville, N.Y., spans 500 verdant acres. Emanating from bullhorn speakers carefully mounted on a pole, the tuneful keyboard notes fill what is otherwise a silence broken by occasional whoosh of the wind and the birdsong. Peter Coffin has created this superb sound installation, “a soundtrack to the sunshine.” It answers the unusual question: What does really sunlight sound like?
He was inspired to pose this question after being invited to take part in a special exhibit on Storm King’s grounds and in the indoor galleries this season. Curated by its associate curator, Nora Lawrence, the show includes the work of 14 known contemporary artists, such as Donald Judd, Olafur Eliasson and Anish Kapoor. For them, natural light is either a conceptual focus or a primary component. In an environ where the twin elements of light and landscape already have a prominent role, the new works in the exhibition – installations, photographs, drawings, sculptures and videos apart from an apiary – try and reinterpret them through a wide array of unexpected approaches.
One was supposed to generate awareness of environment, albeit not in a didactic manner, and this is where the apiary quietly comes in. At the park’s far corner, ‘Untitled (Bees Making Honey)’ by Mr. Coffin is presented as a fenced-in area complete with active beehives.
Beehives and honey bees - Untitled (Bees Making Honey), an interesting project by Peter Coffin is comprised of an apiary right at the far edge of serene Storm King's property wherein a beekeeper lead tours on weekly basis that educate participants about honeybees and also their dependence on the sun for both communication and survival.
The artist’s practice largely involves collating and working with familiar things - to see them afresh. That these tiny colonies rely on the sun is a gentle reminder of its omnipotence. He has been quoted as saying: “It’s indeed fascinating to know how bees make honey. We all forget how magical it is!”
He was inspired to pose this question after being invited to take part in a special exhibit on Storm King’s grounds and in the indoor galleries this season. Curated by its associate curator, Nora Lawrence, the show includes the work of 14 known contemporary artists, such as Donald Judd, Olafur Eliasson and Anish Kapoor. For them, natural light is either a conceptual focus or a primary component. In an environ where the twin elements of light and landscape already have a prominent role, the new works in the exhibition – installations, photographs, drawings, sculptures and videos apart from an apiary – try and reinterpret them through a wide array of unexpected approaches.
One was supposed to generate awareness of environment, albeit not in a didactic manner, and this is where the apiary quietly comes in. At the park’s far corner, ‘Untitled (Bees Making Honey)’ by Mr. Coffin is presented as a fenced-in area complete with active beehives.
Beehives and honey bees - Untitled (Bees Making Honey), an interesting project by Peter Coffin is comprised of an apiary right at the far edge of serene Storm King's property wherein a beekeeper lead tours on weekly basis that educate participants about honeybees and also their dependence on the sun for both communication and survival.
The artist’s practice largely involves collating and working with familiar things - to see them afresh. That these tiny colonies rely on the sun is a gentle reminder of its omnipotence. He has been quoted as saying: “It’s indeed fascinating to know how bees make honey. We all forget how magical it is!”
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