Artists Take on Time in Temporary Artworks: Stephanie Cardon with “UNLESS” and Liz Glynn with “Open House”

Here are two more art installations to get to know before they go! Both are projects of Now+There, related to their 2018 theme: Common Home. Both deal with issues of time, change, and public engagement. Yet they are different in scope, scale, and sensory experience. I want to revisit and reflect but now give you valuable links about them without further delay.

Liz Glynn’s “Open House” in Kenmore Square through November 4

“Concrete is a material of the people,” said artist Liz Glynn, who made the furniture as a public art installation called “Open House.” The pieces are modeled after 26 sofas, chairs, footstools and arches from the opulent ballroom inside the mansion of Gilded Age aristocrat William C. Whitney. ( quoted from the Artery, WBUR, 7/26/18)

“I want to take this rarefied space that was designed originally for the most exclusive 1,000 members of elite society in New York City and open it to everyone for everyone to use,” said Glynn. ( quoted from the Artery, WBUR, 7/26/18)

The sculptural grouping can feel like a monument or a mausoleum. Or like the wealthy denizens of Wall Street have occupied the public promenade. (quoted from Greg Cook review in Wonderland, 7/30/18)

Stephanie Cardon’s “UNLESS” at the Prudential Center through November

“In this dramatic floor-to-ceiling installation at the entrance to the landmark Prudential Center marketplace, Cardon uses orange construction debris netting, made by many hands from the Boston community and embroidered with text from the Pope’s 2015 Encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. The vibrant contemporary tapestry disrupts the cool marble and glass entrance, posing questions of climate justice and sustainability, and the mounting urgency to act together to effect positive change.” ( quoted from Now+There website section about projects)