Dan Flavin’s fluorescent tube installation occupies the entire interior space of Richmond Hall. There are 3 different parts to Flavin’s design contributing to the overall experience of the space. The first portion of the installation is contained in the main space of the structure, 2 rows of vertically positioned multicolored fluorescent tubing aligns the lower portion of 2 adjacent walls, and is separated by a horizontal line of tubing that spans the entire wall space as well. Alternating patterns of pastel colored light is emitted through the fluorescent tubes, and the sleek concrete floor allows for reflection of the tubes assisting in the illumination of the entire area. Another portion of the installation was the exterior façade of the structure, which was lined with green fluorescent tubing around the eaves of the roof to call attention to the edges of the building. The exterior tubing implies or minimally suggests what awaits the viewer within the interior of the space. The two sets of white tubes that are diagonally positioned on the foyer walls create an illuminating contrast with the concrete floor and transform the space with artificial white light that assist in the entire space being illuminated.
Flavin’s installation is a part of the
Menil’s permanent collection and can be viewed as an interior light sculpture.
The use of the fluorescent tubing as his primary medium and rhythmic pattern
the tubes were aligned, created balance, and through the alteration of colored
and white tubing created a unique mass of illumination throughout the space.
The central white wall that separates the two main colored tube walls assists
with lighting the compositional space as a whole. Flavin chose not to alter the
original structure to create his design and if the space is viewed without the
fluorescent illumination the tubes seem to become white objects or sculptures
attached to the walls. As a permanent installation the design does not seem to
alter or disrupt the space it inhabits.
https://www.menil.org/campus/dan-flavin-installation
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