photo by Lily Wang
Leo
Villareal: Supercluster
June 2003 – June,
2004
A
matrix of 640 LED (light emitting diode) illuminators, measuring
45 by 120 feet, displays patterns produced by Villareal’s
programming that suggest a coded game. Supercluster,
a “system,” combines related elements in a complex
whole. While some aspects of the project, such as
the grid, imply order, the animation within the framework
displays a more chaotic dynamic, which conveys a sense
of being alive as the pattern evolves. This project
unites Villareal’s interests in particle systems and
cellular automata: individual elements, governed by
their own set of rules, accelerate, decelerate, collide,
multiply, explode, live and die in a larger system.
On P.S.1’s scaffolding, nestled between the Midtown
Tunnel, the Long Island Expressway and the Queensborough
Bridge and with the backdrop of Manhattan, this artwork's
urban qualities resonate within its context. Mirroring
the patterns of pedestrians, traffic, trains and the
city itself, Supercluster distills the underlying
rules that govern a complex system and seeks a common
denominator between the organic and synthetic. While
it shares the retinal appeal of surrounding animated
advertisements and billboards, Supercluster’s
fragmented abstraction eludes easy decoding and pattern
recognition as its numerical emanations vacillate between
signal and noise.
Leo Villareal: Supercluster, as part of Signatures
of the Invisible, is organized by P.S.1 Director of
Operations Antoine Guerrero with P.S.1 Project Manager
Cornelia Tischmacher.
Signatures of the Invisible is made possible by The
London Institute: Camberwell College of Arts, Central
Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Chelsea College
of Art and Design, London College of Fashion, London
College of Printing, and SLAC: Stanford Linear Accelerator
Center. Additional support for Leo Villareal: Supercluster
is provided by Ben and Donna Rosen and Melva Bucksbaum
and Raymond Learsy, and John Johnson.