We Went Down To O’Shea’s Wood | Jane Cassidy

We Went Down To O’Shea’s Wood, Jane Cassidy (Tuscaloosa, AL)

Southern Constellations Fellow. July 2016. Soundscape/Installation, LED lights.

We Went Down To O’Shea’s Wood is an immersive, audio-visual, light installation in the Glass Forest. The piece is fully activated in the evening hours, once the sun has gone down, and the vacuum of night beckons calm.

Multi-channel ambient music lulls the viewer to a quietened state. From the ceiling, a series of miniature amber LED lights hang at different levels, reacting to the original score. The lights respond to the music conversationally, flickering in an organic fashion and mirrors hung throughout the room bounce and refract light creating the illusion of an planetary landscape. Audiences are invited to move, explore, and lie down in the multi-sensory installation as hundreds of suns nestled in the galaxy reflect infinitely.

O’Shea’s Wood, inspired by the Southern Constellations Program and Cassidy’s own nostalgia, creates a peaceful environment in Elsewhere’s otherwise active building. The installation is a place of respite for Elsewhere residents where the public museum transforms into a private, intimate escape.

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