I stand at the entrance to IMA
We wonder what this long circular “curtain” is
A Room, by Sopheap Pich, Cambodian, b 1971
Installed 2014. Made of bamboo, aluminum, plastic, polyethylene braided line, and Teflon floss.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art’s large entrance hall is often home to a temporary art installation and we were lucky to see this unusual creation. Long strips of various materials cascade down in a circle from the ceiling and at first we wonder what on earth it is. Turns out that visitors can part the strips and enter the circle or inner space, called A Room.
A Room was specially created for the IMA, and is a rare opportunity for people to touch and experience Pich’s work from the inside looking out. When inside, the light coming through the slats suggests the light in a bamboo forest.
A Room fits perfectly into the circular entrance hall
The artist used lengths of bamboo as well as artificial strips. The bamboo is all from Cambodia and was prepared by hand in his studio. Photographs on the information board show him and his workers preparing and laying out all the strips.
This is a really interesting installation, as it is huge and colorful and yet very symbolic in a way—a room within a room, a place to stop and think about where we are and to imagine we are in some other place. We loved the way the different strands of materials shimmer and seem to change color as the light changes.
Sopheap Pich works and teaches in his studio in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He likes to work with natural materials like bamboo and rattan, which are easily available near his studio. Many of his sculptures use parallel lines woven in an open grid, which allows air and light to pass through, giving access to both interior and exterior and creating intricate shadows that change with the light.
Inside A Room, looking out to another room and to the outdoors
Entering A Room in afternoon light
Around and About with Viv 