"After Monet (Water Lilies)," 2005-2006

Medium: 41,920 spools of thread, stainless steel ball chain and hanging apparatus,
and nine hemispherical mirrors mounted on the opposing wall


Commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds
Site: 4250 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, Virginia


I am interested in the link between art and technology, how the eyes prioritize, and reality as a subjective experience vs. an absolute truth. As a visual artist, I cannot think of a topic more stimulating and yet so basic, than the act of seeing--how the human brain makes sense of the visual world. -- Devorah Sperber, 2005

"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
Thread spool installation (13' h x 54' w), *41,920 spools of thread, stainless steel ball chain and hanging apparatus, 9 hemispherical mirrors (18", 26", 32" diameters) mounted on opposing wall (view from entrance to lobby)

After Monet (Water Lilies) is a site-specific installation, constructed from *41,920 spools of thread, which coalesce into the image of Monet's "Water Lilies" (collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC) when seen reflected in nine hemispherical mirrors mounted on the opposing curved wall.

Devorah Sperber selected an impressionist work by Monet as a subject matter for the sophisticated and complimentary color palette, as well as for the reference of modern day pixels (thread spools) to pointillism.

Experiential Component: Viewers first perceive the spools of thread as a random arrangement of colorful cylinders, getting only a hint of the inherent imagery from the entrances to the lobby. It is only after people walk towards the center of the lobby that the thread spools are visible in nine hemispherical mirrors, revealing the subtle imagery of Monet's Water Lilies. This shift in perception functions as a dramatic mechanism to present the idea that there is no one truth or reality, emphasizing subjective reality vs. an absolute truth.


"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
Thread spool installation (view from main lobby entrance) 13' h x 54' w
"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
Detail of thread spools (each spool 1 1/4" h)
"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
9 hemispherical mirrors installed on opposing curved wood paneled wall, sizes ranging from 18"- 32" in diameter (view from main lobby entrance)
"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
Hemispherical mirrors (18", 26" 32" diameters), installed on wood paneled lobby wall (side view)
"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
Detail of 32" hemispherical mirror (straight on view)
"After Monet (Water Lilies)", 2005-2006, by Devorah Sperber, commissioned by Wells Real Estate Funds for a corporate lobby in Arlington, Virginia
View from second lobby entrance
*Partial funding by Coats and Clark

Devorah Sperber is a New York-based artist whose sculptures, composed of thousands of ordinary objects, negotiate a terrain between low and high tech. Her labor-intensive works explore repetition and the effects of digital technology on perception, scale, and subjective reality. -Patricia Phillips, Executive Editor, Art Journal

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