"Changing Waters" Exhibition on Display at Arsenal Center for the Arts

A unique exhibit is currently on view at the Arsenal Center for the Arts. In "Changing Waters," Nathalie Miebach combines art, weather systems, and marine environments in the Gulf of Maine. This large-scale installation greets visitors at the central staircase upon entering the building.  

Miebach weaves together a variety of materials, including graphics of weather data and seasonal migration of marine life collected in the Gulf, and silken braided ropes, to cover a wall as well as create a series of hanging structures that swirl 10-feet high toward the ceiling.

According to the artist's website, her installations focus "on the intersection of art and science and the visual articulation of scientific observations." Her method of translation, she states, "is principally that of weaving — in particular basket weaving — as it provides me with a simple yet highly effective grid through which to interpret data in three-dimensional space."

Her sculptural basket weaving techniques create large representations of buoys hanging suspended, tilting as if in water. On the walls, a blue dragon (the Labrador Current) faces off against an orange one (the Gulf Stream); silken, braided ropes coil; sticks mark off depths; green washers show chlorophyll concentrations.  There’s even a buoy that symbolically tells the story of the Andrea Gail’s sinking, made famous by "The Perfect Storm."

"Central to this work is my desire to explore the role visual aesthetics play in the translation and understanding of science information," she notes. "By utilizing artistic processes and everyday materials, I am questioning and expanding boundaries through which science data has been traditionally visually translated [ex: graphs, diagrams], while at the same time provoking expectations of what kind of visual vocabulary is considered to be in the domain of 'science' or 'art.'"

Originally commissioned by the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, "Changing Waters" will be on display at the Arsenal Center for the Arts through the end of this year.  For more information, visit the Arsenal Center's website.