At a time when many artworks are viewed through a smartphone, sculptor Alicia Eggert has devised an enchanting installation that makes the most of human touch. Her steel and aluminum sculpture, You Are Magic, requires the viewer to be hands-on to activate its animated starbursts.
When viewers enter a white-walled space devoid of light and sound, they place a hand on one of two metal handprints embedded in a plinth. Skin-to-skin contact between visitors allows an electrical current to flow through their bodies, launching a dazzling one-minute display of light and sound that builds the longer the connection is held.
“When [the viewer] steps on a white stage, it’s almost like they’re becoming part of the work itself,” explains Denton-based Eggert, who has created playful and poignant text-based sculptures during her 18-year career for institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
“The longer participants hold hands, the more the room fills with light, color and sound. As soon as [they] break their physical connection, the space immediately goes dark and silent once again.”
Making her audience part of the art is just another level of collaboration for Eggert. For Magic, she leaned on custom sign company Nebula Neon, programmer Jason Mishou and University of North Texas physics and composition professor Marco Buongiorno Nardelli to bring her idea to life. Buongiorno Nardelli composed a soundtrack of harmonious tones to accompany the sculpture’s 200-plus LED bulbs and 80-plus neon lights. Each combination of sound and color is unique, assuring no two viewings will be the same.
Originally exhibited as an inflatable at the Arlington Art Truck in Virginia in 2018, the work has been refined over the years. Its current version was crafted in collaboration with James Akers for the Color Factory in Houston.
Eggert envisions the piece ending up in a public sculpture park, where a crowd can join to make her magic happen.
“You need two people to turn it on, but we’ve done as many as 30, and it managed to go through everyone’s bodies if you are all touching hands,” Eggert says. “We made a huge loop around the gallery. I don’t know the limit where it no longer makes the connection, but we haven’t reached it yet.”
The museum exhibition, titled “Your Magic is Real and Sub(liminal),” also includes an installation by Mexico-born artists and brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre.
Details
“Your Magic is Real and Sub(liminal)” is on view through June 1 at the Arlington Museum of Art, 1200 Ballpark Way, Arlington. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. arlingtonmuseum.org.