“TURNINGPOINT”
Rogaland Theatre, Stavanger 2001
(KORO Public art Norway)
New addition to the old theatre building
Columns of white translucent enamel glass and hand-rolled lamp glass are
set in the facade of the new addition over two floors. The white glass is
cut by hand in small pieces, and is set in between the laminated glass
during the installation. This leaves areas of clear glass in between the
white glass.
The columns act as a metaphorical pivot point, like the one that exists
between the stage and the auditorium. What you experience depends on
your position. Before a theatre performance starts any activity is created
by the audience, while during the performance it is the actors on stage
who are moving. The lights follow this activity: when the audience has
found its seats and the lights are turned off the stage, by comparison, is
fully illuminated. The sound of this moment, when the auditorium lights
go down and the stage lights come up is captured and broadcast outside
the building, as if a window were half open somewhere.
This sound is audible outside the building all night until the following
morning. At the same time the columns are illuminated and slowly
change colors from red (like the velvet auditorium itself) at night, via
orange to yellow-ochre by morning. (Yellow-ochre is the color of the old
theatre buildings.)
The LED light is programmed in a very slow pulse, impossible for the eye
to register any change, but the color is different when you get out after
the performance than it was when you came to the theatre.
The white glass spreads the daylight in a nice way during the day, and
passers-by can glimpse the activity in the building. The theatre staff who
use the building during daytime are protected from public view, however
they can look out through the areas of clear glass.
The intention has been to capture the moment of expectation when a
performance is about to begin.