DESCENT
QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS
THIS INSTALLATION IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT ALL HOURS, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
IT IS LOCATED AT 3 COTTAGE AVE, QUINCY, MA 02169. IT CAN BE ENTERED NEAR THE CORNER OF COTTAGE AVE. AND HANCOCK ST., OR FROM THE PLAZA AT KILROY SQUARE.
This four part installation is inspired by a submarine built in 1908 at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, MA, called Octopus.
The main feature of this installation is a 39’9” w x 18’10” h interactive wall where visitors can interact with and alter the content in each scene with movement and gestures. Projected light fills the wider areas of the atrium where two overhead sculptures are placed, representing the linework shape of the iconic submarine, half submerged in water. The third area of the installation features a storytelling wall that tells a short history of the Octopus submarine, adjacent to a 12 panel window projection that casts patterns and shapes on the outdoor plaza.
All elements within this installation play with the term “sub-divided” – the bisecting of above/below, front/back, inside and outside. Inspired by the stark duality of the development in engineering and mechanics that allowed for the invention of the submarine at the dawn of the 20th century, and the exhilarating excitement of traversing below the surface to the underwater world which had, up until that moment in history, remained an undiscovered universe.
In this installation, the surface of the water becomes the division between two realities, the above water world which is hard and mechanical, and the underwater world of fluid motion, fantasy, and adventure.
At the interactive wall, visitors experience the Octopus submarine up close as the submarine leads visitors on an underwater journey through a series of marine habitats, descending to greater and greater depths with the submarine into the fantastical underwater universe.
The passive state shows the surface of the water with sunny skies and rippling surface. When triggered by passing visitors, the Octopus submarine enters the scene and descends for the first time, drawing us down into the first habitat of rocky shallow waters with vibrant sea anemones that open and close with the gesture of a hand.
When triggered, we descend again to a deeper ocean habitat showing a giant school of swimming fish, circling in a cloud overhead. As visitors interact, the fish dodge the intrusion and scatter, breaking up the continuity of their synchronized trajectory.
When triggered again, the scene transitions into a deeper world of white jellyfish, swimming through the dark blue waters. As figures “touch” each of them, each individual jellyfish becomes electrified, illuminating with a vivid array of colors and electric streaks.
As visitors emerge into the final and deepest habitat, a giant octopus, the namesake of the submarine, enters the scene. As participants interact, the octopus swims in swooping loops, emitting clouds of black ink that fill the scene. Visitors can interact with the ink through gesture, creating swirling plums of black until it dissipates into translucent smoky haze, and a new ink pool is emitted.
When triggered, the submarine returns from the depths and scares the giant octopus who darts out of scene. As the waters clear the submarine ascends up through the bubbly haze bringing us back to the surface, and continues on its journey, returning the wall to its original “passive state.”
The return wall adjacent to the interactive wall tells the story of the life of this iconic submarine through a series of video collages, highlighting the mechanical features of this small craft, and its large contribution to history in the short lived career at sea.
The overhead sculptures are scaled replicas of the size and shape of the submarine. The sculpture is split vertically, the front end suspended above the main atrium, the tail end suspended above the Cottage St entrance. The sculpture is bisected again horizontally, depicting a moment when the submarine is floating half exposed and half submerged. This split condition is described by two seemingly contrasting materialities – the welded wireframe structure on the upper half and the billowing projection silk of the lower half. Ceiling mounted projectors cast video imagery through the scrim and onto the ground at both ends of the atrium, creating pools of moving content and patterning the ground.
The last element of the installation is a window installation that features projection on glass and decals depicting the wireframe of the submarine. From the inside, the white decal is illuminated with moving image. From the outside, only black lines are visible and the projection fills the negative space and spills onto the plaza and surrounding buildings.
This installation occupies an interstitial space that would otherwise be treated as a corridor to get from plaza to the building entrance or adjacent streets. By activating this space with an art installation, it has been transformed into a destination that not only brightens the day of locals, but attracts visitors from far and wide into the emerging urban center of Downtown Quincy.
