Christopher Hydinger
BRIDGED: CHOICE
ABS Piping, Mirrored Glass
2009
Christopher Hydinger
BRIDGED: ECHO
Wood, Bamboo, Mirrored Glass
2009THE BASICS: I was moved by the complex’s heartfelt features, especially the more poetically ambitious ones, and felt compelled to create site- and client-specific work based on those engaging attributes.
THE DETAILS: There is a sort of magic happening here. It’s in the walls and floors. It’s a game whose tagline might read ‘Now You See It, Now You See It Again!’ and it’s both mechanically sublime and deafeningly relevant. Rainwater is directed thru pipes from the rooftops into a cistern in the basement, the collected water to be later employed during the not-so-rainy months. The result is simple, the sentiment humanitarian. Also, the encouragement of an inside/outside lifestyle is evident in the complex’s purposely intimate relationship between its built environment and its designed landscape. The two are organically intertwined so as to blur the line separating the Natural and the Synthetic as they exist in urban spaces. This causes a loss of hierarchy often associated when perceiving the Values of synthesized materials versus the Values of natural materials. And so when intertwined neither is capable of taking center stage… the resulting duet a lesson in mutual respect producing a mutually beneficial outcome. There is in addition to these characteristics the very matter-of-fact stance that the complex takes as a metaphor for what it means to exist in an urban environment. The sounds of passing automobiles, for example, become a celebration of sorts; they are a subtle reminder to consciously remain in touch with your personal impact on the world surrounding us all.
The wood and bamboo used to create ‘BRIDGED: ECHO’ were surplus materials from the site itself. The ABS piping and concrete were inspired by the complex’s construction elements. The mirrored glass represents both Nature and the healing magic inherent in introspection, an activity vital to sustaining peacefulness in the urban environment.
THE THANK-YOUS: Johnston Architects, Footprint Developments, the other artists, and especially Jennifer Wittlinger for making this truly unique group exhibition a reality. Each of the three pieces is dedicated to everyone who contributed in some fashion to the completion of Footprint at the Bridge.
unit b
[christopherhydinger@hotmail.com]
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