Opening Reception Thursday Jan. 10, 6-9pm
"Set a course for wayward schemes" is a site-specific architectural installation assembled from thousands of strands of flagging tape, a colorful plastic ribbon utilized by surveyors to demarcate space on construction sites, mass-produced in a variety of bright colors.  These ribbons are arranged into an interference stripe pattern inside the street-level windows that wrap around the corner of 5th and Main Streets.  Florescent lights are mounted to the floor and ceiling, causing the piece to glow from within and illuminate the translucent material.

A depth of about five feet separates the front and rear planes of stripes.  This distance between the front and rear planes will create an optical illusion of kinetic movement as viewers walk or drive past it.  This phenomenon occurs as a result of the combination of our sensory system with the physics of light.  Often disorientation is experienced when the stripe patterns intersect and appear to slide in opposite directions.  The end result resembles an updated three-dimensional version of string art that shares the seemingly kinetic territory of the Op Art and Light+Space movements. These site-specific projects are also strongly influenced by minimalism, but retain a sense of play and delight.

This project was made possible by a generous material donation by Irwin Industrial Supply Company and a Durfee Artists' Resource for Completion Grant.