Commissioned by Kirshe Keachele for MOMA, the MONA (Museum of old and New Art) summer market
Multimedia installation inside a hexagonal wooden teepee structure with amber glass apex
Framed digital images, altar, wooden stools, foliage and flowers, LED lights, battery operated candles, sound track (5' loop)
8.5m (h) x 3.5m (w)
With special thanks to: Gerard Willems for construction of altar, stools and framing;
Paulette Whitney and Kris Shaffer for foliage decorations, and Alex Martin for biophany sound track.
The Chapel 2012
The Chapel was specifically created to honour Tasmanian native flora and fauna. It invited visitors to contemplate the variety and beauty of Tasmania's unique species while listening to the sound of Tasmanian birds calling to each other.
The design was inspired by the interiors of early Latvian and Norwegian wooden churches, and the lithographic images of Tasmanian animals and plants by John Gould (1804-1881) and Louisa Anne Meredith (1812-1895). There were 6 large images, decorated with Tasmanian flowers, foliage and LED lighting, which included portraits of the extinct Tasmanian Tiger (hanging behind the altar), a Bennett's Wallaby, Tasmanian ringtail possums, and the Tasmanian Devil. The 36 smaller images were reproduced from original 18th and 19th century engravings and lithographs of animals and birds native to Tasmania.
The chapel itself is a wooden hexagon with an amber glass apex that streamed beams of golden light into the space.
Bibliomancy readings were offered to visitors during the 2012 MOMA Market.