Exhibiting "Corpus Callosum" at Atlantic Works Gallery took place in November of 2009.
Preparation for this exhibition was time and labor-intensive.
Prior to hanging the work on the gallery wall, 500 slide sheets, which hold 20 drawings each, were pre-mounted on paper panels with 1,000 homemade hinges and 2,000 pieces of tape.
It was great to see work installed in its entirety. Prior to this, I had never seen it on a wall!
Check out this video clip to get an idea of the size of the piece.
This video clip is an up close view of the work.
It's true that a work of this scale and visual density demands a lot from the viewer. Visual connections and relationships emerge slowly and unexpectedly. Some sensitive viewers who took more than 30 minutes crawling through the work.
One perceptive viewer pointed out that the pencil didn't appear to leave the paper during the execution of many of the drawings.
Others, through asking questions about the work, inadvertently brought me back to a period in my life when I was consistently up and drawing well before the sunrise...
Opening Reception for "Corpus Callosum"
On Thursday, November 5, 2009, Atlantic Works Gallery hosted an opening reception for "Corpus Callosum," a 10,000 drawing wall piece by Michael St.Germain.
Family, friends, and strangers came by
to check out 10,000 matchbook-sized drawings.
The drawings were presented in 500 (20-pocket) slide storage pages.
These pages, in turn, were affixed to 84 panels. The work literally filled the whole gallery.
Some people chose to sit and get up close and personal with the work.
.JPG)
Others took it in the drawings sequentially.
As always, guests gathered to talk,
share a drink
and have a few laughs.
Special Thanks to our gallery installer George Kougeas for a very long, precise and elegant installation.
Special Thanks also to BeeBee Horowitz at the Toy Box at the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven (Martha's Vineyard) for kindly offering a very generous discount on letters for signage.
