A permanent art installation commissioned for The Skylyne at Temescal in 2020. Three miles of sewing thread run across a concrete wall, one warm run and one cool.
Case study
Slant
The story
The Context
BXP commissioned a piece for The Social Room, the community lounge at Skylyne at Temescal in Oakland. Chaz and I made Slant as The Jack and Jane, our art partnership. This was our first permanent installation and the largest thing we had made.
The Challenge
The room set the brief. On our first walkthrough, the towering concrete wall felt heavy, cold and lifeless. We wanted something light and organic to bring balance — a living, breathing addition to the space. When approaching installation time, we were initially given three months to get the piece in the space. Due to significant construction delays, that time was reduced to less than 48 hours. And we got it done.
The Statement
“Slant represents the spectrum of Black expression and the benefit of perspective. What the viewer sees is dependent upon where they stand and how they interact with the piece. Slant cannot be fully appreciated until the viewer decides to change their perspective. In that decision, Slant’s complexities are shown through shifting gradients, organic and architectural angles, and interplay with light.”
What Went Wrong
After rigid planning that included multiple sketches with painstaking spreadsheet calculations to determine the spread and blend of colors, the mock-ups we did in our living room still failed right up until installation time.
What I learned from it:
To trust in our ability to execute. Even though we had never worked at that scale before, we believed in the vision, in our abilities, and in each other.
The Outcome
Installed September 2020. The Skylyne interviewed us for its Together We Rise series the following spring.
Credit
Chazen Powell
Concept, design, fabrication, and installation.