In this work Sonnier uses a communication transmission system consisting of two long-distance audio transmitters and a pair of microphones to create an audio connection between two separate locations. In Air to Air (1975) Sonnier presents yet another understanding of the ephemeral: insubstantiality. Thus in Untitled (Flock and String) Sonnier presents two types of ephemerality: entropy and chance-the unavoidable decay of organic life and the unpredictable way in which this decay occurs. These strings are an homage to Marcel Duchamp’s seminal work, 3 Standard Stoppages (1913-14) in which the artist let fall a meter-long string onto a stretched canvas and then used the haphazard form of the fallen string to create a new metric unit. The important role that chance plays in the work is underscored by the series of strings that hang across it, secured at points along the edge of the Latex and draped over the flocked surface. Although decay is the inevitable outcome of the work, the exact manner in which this decomposition takes place is governed by chance.

Over time the edges of the Latex peel from the wall and tufts of flocking slough off. By making ephemerality a key component of his art, Sonnier challenged the traditional characterization of sculpture as a three-dimensional art form made from durable materials such as bronze or marble.įor instance, in Untitled (Flock and String) (1969) Sonnier applies a thin layer of Latex directly to the gallery wall, then covers it with flocking-small fiber particles that give the work a soft, mottled appearance. In these works, Sonnier uses materials such as cloth, flocking, and even sound in ways that foreground the inherent fragility, impermanence, and mutability of these media. This exhibition focuses on ephemerality as a formative principle in Keith Sonnier’s work through a display of sculpture from the 60s and 70s which mark his initial engagement with this concept/quality. Or look them up on Facebook if you are a member.Castelli Gallery is pleased to present Ethereal/Ephemeral: Keith Sonnier in the Sixties. It is called Hands Around the World and I would urge you to click on the link, find out what they do, and see if there is anything you could do to support their work. However I have found one small, local charity with minimal administration costs that punches well above it’s weight in working with children who are less fortunate for one reason or another. I worked with children all my life but now that I am retired my time, energy and funds are limited. Like every child she also has other rights:~ to love, shelter, health, education, equality, protection, and to be treated with humanity, respect and compassion. She is just one tiny child, but ‘ she is a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars’, and she has a right to be here. It reminds me of the beautiful poem, Desiderata written by Max Ehrmann 1927 The light shining on Rosie gives the photo a deeply spiritual quality for me. They seem to belong to another, more heavenly world. Children are such precious, fragile things innocent, trusting and dependent. The blurred quality expresses the fleeting nature of childhood I think so brief it is to be treasured.īut it also brings to mind the word, ‘ethereal’, and captures what I think and feel about children in general, and my grandchildren in particular. This is a photo of my granddaughter at her third birthday party, which was 6 years ago. The definition of the word ‘ephemeral’is ‘fleeting, transient, short-lived’, and for me that epitomises childhood.

This photo captures a fleeting moment so fulfils the brief for this week’s photo challenge.

Ephemeral vs ethereal