Temple of Mnemon

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Title: Participants interacting with the artwork.
Photo Credit: Anthony Crisafilli
Lead Artist(s):

Description:

Using carefully engineered motion to manipulate our perceptions of time, place and self, Lilly’s meticulously constructed sculptures move in organic, fluid and mesmeric ways, pressing rational qualities against the sensuous response of each piece.

Temple of Mnemon uses time and material to collapse the polarity of “me” and “not-me,” projecting a changing collage of self and world onto the sky. It is a simple statement about being in the world, and then not, about living and dying.

The artwork enables us to reflect on ourselves and transcendence at the same time. Viewer-participants must be stationed appropriately to experience this piece of art. When you lie back on a bench and look up into the sky, you see downward as well. You see how the earth and grass encase you. Pairs of mirrors slide back and forth to form a void, and then heal it. If other people are present, you see them come into being, and then taken away. You also see how you appear in the world, and then how you disappear, as the robe of your body is parted, and you are surrendered to the sky.

The environment itself collaborates. It enriches and deepens the gathered impression of being here. The clouds, a plane, birds or butterflies, the grass, even the traffic on the adjacent roadway contribute something of meaning.

When you first encounter the artwork, you may not quite understand that it's a work of art as it is the merest suggestion of a building: four columns/beams are the only structure, a shifting eight-mirror canopy the only ceiling, four wooden boards the only furniture. But as you allow yourself to succumb to lying back on the benches, the experience of this piece is revealed above your head.

During your visit to Temple of Mnemon, you need consider no other moment than today, envision no other place than right here, and sympathize with no other human life than the one you are living.

PROJECT LOCATION

Garden
Park
Public Space
An active civic space within the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, the Wharf District Parks connect Faneuil Hall and the Financial District with Boston Harbor. The parks contain areas of paved surfaces for active public use and a gathering space for public events known as the Great Room. You will find two unique fountains, specialized lighting structures, and many places to sit in these parks. Three open lawn areas, surrounded with plantings, provide more informal space. Workers from the Financial District, neighbors, and visitors from the nearby hotels enjoy the wide spaces, walkways, benches and lawns in these parks that stretch from Atlantic Avenue to High Street. Walk under the London-plane trees that line the great boulevard or along the Mothers’ Walk path to enjoy a bountiful variety of plants native to New England and the northeast. Children and adults alike delight in the Rings Fountain at Milk Street and its unpredictable and irresistible water patterns that jet into the air from a flat paved surface. After dinner at one of the nearby restaurants, the Wharf District Parks are a great place to stroll, as the Light Blades perform colorful displays.
Wharf District Parks (Corner of India and Surface Rd. - Rose Kennedy Greenway)
1673 John F Fitzgerald Surface Rd
Boston , MA 02110
United States

click the map to enlarge
PROJECT TEAM

Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy
https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/
Lucas Antony Cowan

[email protected]
Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy
https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/
Matthew Fox Larkin

[email protected]
Nine and Two Thirds, LLC
nineandtwothirds.com
Dynamic Design Consulting, LLC
Charles A. Gillis, P.E.
PROJECT DETAILS

Temporary
150000
Grant
Private
Installation, Kinetic, Sculpture
Electronics, Glass, Metal, Mixed Media, Plastic, Wood
Tempered glass mirror; plastic; aluminum, steel, and stainless steel; motor; micro-controller; and hardwood benches
2018
2019