| Matthew Geller Open Channel Flow 2009 19m x 10m x 14m steel, water, hand-pump, light beacons Sabine Water Pump Station and Buffalo Bayou Park, Houston, Texas, USA By using the hand-pump one can experience a refreshing “shower” as water rains down from the showerhead 7.5 meters above. Simultaneously amber and blue beacons on top of the 19-meter structure flash, signaling people as far away as downtown Houston. I'm particularly drawn to overlooked or underutilized environments, from private imaginary worlds within brick walls, to back alleys, to very public sprawling open spaces. Whether the work takes the form of public art, sculpture, installation, or video, it is in these environments that I tease out small fragments of narrative by augmenting or amplifying the raw materials of a given place. I ask the viewer to engage both with what was always there as well as what might be. My public art works are playful, humorous, unexpected and accessible. They have an ability to engage a broad cross section of the public, often in situations of unusual intimacy. The works, which offer a seductive invitation to participate, support the notion that public art can build community and have a broad appeal without being what is most familiar. In addition, I approach public art opportunities with the notion of making the site more congenial and communal for those who use it. I incorporate motion and change, and have elements that foster engagement both with the work and among the viewers themselves. The site always influences the structure and the materials such that the site itself becomes an element of the work. |
