Alicja Kwade
TunnelTeller, 2018
Art and the Landscape / The Trustees
Castle Hill at the Crane Estate, Ipswich, MA
May, 2018 - January 2021
Kwade’s works are intended to question the viewer’s notions of time, space, and perception of reality. Alicja was invited to reflect on the former hedge maze designed by Arthur A. Schurcliff for the Crane Estate in the early 1900’s. She responded with TunnelTeller 2018, an immersive site-specific installation, created to challenge the public’s engagement with the historic and scenic landscape. Kwade has described her intention as wanting “to create an atmosphere, which is unreal for my audience – or rather, one that belongs to a different world, the one that people enter through my exhibition.”
TunnelTeller rests on the outlines of the former hedge maze, serving as a contemporary interpretation. The hedge-like structure is rendered in poured concrete. Stainless steel pipes of varying dimensions intersect the concrete walls. Steel tubes are carefully placed to guide the visitor’s gaze to specific aspects of the property including the mansion’s architectural features, treetops, and the nearby seaside. The views of the landscape are augmented and distorted by tubes with a reflective polished interior. Several blue Macauba spheres, alluding to Earth, are placed throughout the structure.
Kwade’s artwork was the third installation in The Trustees’ Art and the Landscape Initiative, designed to present site-specific works that engage visitors by offering new ways of experiencing both the property and public art. Kwade’s intention is that her piece will invite visitors to wander through the structure, peer through the tubes, and see Castle Hill on the Crane Estate through a new lens.
Guest Curator: Pedro Alonzo
IG @alicjakwade / www.alicjakwade.com
Photo credits: Peter Vanderwarker Photography