By Kate Bobby
The Hall of Science is a temporary home to “Wave Transformations,” an eye-catching site-specific installation on view at the museum's Great Hall Dec. 27-31.
“The Hall is the perfect spot for this installation. I'm thrilled,” said Rosalind Schneider, creator of “Wave Transformations,” the digital manipulation of video images to create an oceanic environment, complete with an aural accompaniment of ocean sounds.
“I've always been fascinated with creating new visual environments through film, not through the use of narrative, but rather through filming images repetitively, abstractly,” explained Schneider, a graduate of Syracuse University and past student with the Art Students' League in Manhattan.
Citing the influence of experimental filmmakers such as Stan Brackage in “Wave Transformations,” Schneider wanted to create a vision of the Earth as a watery sphere as viewed from another planet, a goal long-envisioned yet only recently attainable through the widespread availability and use of video.
“I have always worked independently, relying primarily on film, often Super 8, then transferred to 16 mm,” said Schneider. “With video, what took 13, 14 hours to achieve I can
now do in 10 minutes. It's phenomenal. It's very liberating and exciting.”
With “Wave Transformations,” Schneider has projected a continuous loop of self-perpetuating, undulating ocean imagery onto a balloon, 14 feet in diameter, suspended in the Great Hall in a hypnotic, sleepy darkness.
“It seems to be the perfect millennium exhibit,” commented Schneider, “A new perspective on our planet as if viewed from another.”
“Wave Transformations” can be seen at the New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th St., Flushing Meadows Corona Park Dec. 27 through Dec. 31. On Dec. 31, the museum will have special evening hours as part of the city wide celebration of “First Night,” an alcohol-free New Year's Eve celebrated by special programming at the Queens Museum of Art, Queens Theater in the Park and the Hall of Science Queens in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Call 699-0005 for directions. The exhibit is free with museum admission. Please note: the museum is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
