STEVE WANNA: SOUND | LIGHT | SPACE
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In the Eternity of an Instant (2019)
Solo exhibit at the Fisher Art Gallery

Details and photos coming soon...

Time Still Moving (2019)
Solo exhibit at the Angie Newman Johnson Gallery

Details and photos coming soon...
​

A Slight Suggestion (2014)
An interdisciplinary solo exhibit presented by Catalyst Projects at doris-mae Gallery

The works in this solo exhibit are inspired by my encounters with the world of shadows that surround us, a world that we often miss. Shadows of tree leaves on sunny, windy days animating sidewalks, and ordinary objects casting intricate silhouettes on various surfaces are all part of a lively theatre that’s constantly appearing and disappearing around us. This fleeting world is sometimes as wild as the wildest dancing, more poignant and arresting than sunsets and poetry–and it is all hidden in plain view.

The exhibit contains photography, video, light and sound sculptures and site-specific installation.

Many thanks to the following people who contributed to my Indiegogo campaign to help make fund this exhibit:
Barbara Bitondo, Michael Boyd, Tonya Howe, Rachel L. Kaplan, Stephen Lilly, Sarah Massey, Stacey Mastrian, Paloma Santiago-Adorno, Jayne Sutton, Kristian Twombly

come closer
Illuminated porcelain and sound sculptures (porcelain, LED lights, small speakers, electronics)

come closer
The idea for these pieces came from an encounter I once had while hiking. The sun was casting shadows through a yellow leaf that had fallen on the ground. The leaf and shadows were all very small and intimate but the luminescence and translucency of the leaf made it absolutely stunning! I kneeled down to take a photo and managed to snap two before the sun hid behind a cloud taking the shadows and yellow radiance of the leaf with it. I was very lucky to catch that brief display.

The pieces in this series are made of translucent porcelain that allows some light through it. They are illuminated from within with LED lights. They also emit a single sound (a sine or pure tone), each of a different frequency. The lights and sounds are all controlled by a microprocessor that gradually ramps them up and down at random intervals. The whole display is quite hypnotic.

don't tell anyone
Kinetic sculpture (wood, small DC motor, light, timing pulleys and belt, wire)

don't tell anyone
The sculpture is partly inspired by the videos, but it also deals with the idea of slow change. A small motor spins thin, delicate wires very slowly in front of a light that casts lacy shadows of them. The motor spins at the rate of roughly 1 revolution every 6 minutes, which means that the projected shadows will appear still at a quick glance, but will, in fact, be constantly changing.

sometimes, on a windy day
Video installation

sometimes, on a windy day (video installation)
sometimes, on a windy day (video installation)
The videos are of sidewalks that are perhaps ordinarily not all that interesting. But when light filters through trees on a windy day, the resulting shadows animate the concrete and give it a textural depth that’s utterly captivating! It’s not that strange for me to stand still for long stretches of time filming these shadows dancing on the sidewalk.

Each video is of a single-framed shot of a sidewalk or similar surface that’s being animated by shadows, usually of trees. Each video is duplicated into a grid (5x5, 10x10 or 20x20). The resulting gridded video is a larger texture made out of the individual, smaller ones present in the video. Rather than being projected on a static screen, the videos are projected on a screen that itself is animated by an oscillating fan to mirror the play of wind displayed in the videos. All videos were shot using an iPhone 4s. No processing was applied to the footage.

Photographic Works

17th St @ S St NW (3:32 PM)
S St @ 18th St NW (12:12 PM)
12th St @ Girard St NE (10:33 PM)
S St @ 17th St NW (1:53 PM)
New Hampshire Ave @ Q St NW (1:22 PM)
Q St @17th St NW (12:07 PM)
R St @ 17th St NW (12:14 AM)
17th St @ R St NW (2:16 PM)
12 St @ Girard St NE (10:28 AM)
Wilson Blvd @ N Hudson St (8:37 AM)
Calvert St @ Woodley Pl NW (11:45 AM)
The photos are very similar to the videos, but rather than showcasing shadows animating still surfaces, they capture single, still images of shadows cast by trees or other objects (trash bins, café chairs, etc). All the photos, with the exception of one, were shot using an iPhone 4s and minimally processed to get them ready for print.


EMULSION: The First Annual East City Art Regional Juried Show (2013)

spring will come early (tempera powder on sand)

When I was little, my mother used a very curious method to predict the weather for the year.  Equal parts magic, astrology and faith, her method involved carefully pouring twelve small, identical mounds of salt onto a small tray. Each of the twelve mounds represented one of the months in the calendar year. She would set the tray outside overnight on the evening of Epiphany, January 6.  The next morning, she would carefully examine each mound for moisture content, and from their individual conditions (which were apparently different!) she could predict the weather conditions for each month of the year.  I don’t know if this method was accurate or not, but it didn’t matter to me as a child.  There was something quite magical about the ritual that captivated me.   And, despite their humble appearance, I always found the small mounds of salt quiet beautiful.  I view this piece as a distant homage to her methods.
 
The piece is a site-specific installation titled spring will come early.  It involves setting up two identical versions of the same piece, one indoors and the other outdoors.  Each piece will consists of 12 mounds of powdered pigment.  The piece that’s installed outside will naturally undergo changes due to its exposure to the elements, particularly rain and wind, and will, therefore, change dramatically over time.  The indoor piece, by contrast, will remain almost unchanged.
outdoor 1
outdoor 2
outdoor 3
indoor 1
indoor 2
outdoor 4 (after 2 days)
outdoor 5 (after 2 days)
outdoor 6 (after 2 days)

Artomatic (2012)

Three Studies in Tension
Mixed media (balloons, air, string, plaster, tempera powder, pebbles, water, fabric tape, sticky notes, leaves)

DCAC Wall Mountables (2012)

look for me there
Slow motor spinning a small magnet underneath metallic powder
 will come early (tempera powder on sand)

The three works in this site-specific installation all explored the tension between various objects and gravity, and the tenuous balance between various materials.

In one of them, small balloons dipped into plaster were suspended from the ceiling. The plaster initially clings to the balloons, but they naturally deflate overtime. As they do so, the rubber pulls away from the plaster. When this happens, the plaster shells don't immediately fall because of the shape of the balloon. But it's only a matter of time, as the balloons continue to lose air and eventually gravity overtakes the shells causing them to crash and shatter.

DCAC Wall Mountables (2011)

What Becomes
Tempera powder in small water jars, allowed to settle and change slowly over time
This Could Get Messy
Piano wire attached to slow motor, slowly mixing tempera powder
All images and audio files are copyrighted. © Steve Wanna
  • Home
  • Bio & CV
  • Installations
    • Time-Based Installations
    • Sound-Based Installations >
      • Singing Tower
      • in a single drop...
      • Meditation on Form and Measure
    • Architectural Installations >
      • Within Without
      • Facing the Light
      • seeing: forgetting
  • Visual Works
    • Mixed Media Sculptures
    • Sound Sculptures
    • Photography & Video
  • Sound Works
    • Electroacoustic & Mixed Media
    • Acoustic Chamber & Solo
    • Orchestral
    • Scores Samples
    • Dance Collaborations
  • Selected Exhibitions
  • Contact
  • Press