A Certain Tiny Ecstasy - michele théberge

A Certain Tiny Ecstasy

2004 | mixed media installation | 10 x 13 x 11 ft | California College of the Arts | San Francisco, CA

As you enter the ceiling-less room, you are forced to duck slightly under a sheer white scrim at the top of the doorway. In front of you stretches a vortex of tiny blue arcs ascending thirteen feet (4.5 m) and gradually increasing in size from a millimeter to a nearly a meter across. The base of this shape points to a drawing of a small face in an expression of complete peace.

Opposite is a wall, five feet shorter painted with the faintest blue haze so imperceptible as to cause the viewer to take a second look to be sure it isn’t some shadow, reflection, or other trick of the eye. The adjacent wall is totally white except for a tiny blue dot just off center.

The fourth wall holds a “window” created from a rectangle white satin fabric with sheet of clear blue plastic taped over it.