Following Nature 2013

Curator: Spencer Finch’s site-specific work, "Following Nature," from 2013, plays with light and color in an incredibly engaging way. Editor: My immediate thought is "ethereal." The layers of translucent color give the whole space a dreamy quality, like being underwater, almost a watercolor painting in real space. What materials did he employ to achieve such a feat? Curator: It’s primarily glass and a very deliberate orchestration of space. Finch is known for his investigations into perception and how we experience the world around us, and I believe the setting becomes incredibly crucial. This installation highlights how institutions choose to showcase nature through aesthetic form, somewhat divorcing itself from authentic ecological concerns. Editor: The glass is really crucial, don’t you think? Its industrial fabrication is offset by the installation's engagement with ephemeral light and reflection and it encourages you to be present to see those affects. The material's capacity to both filter and distort reality…it transforms the architectural space into something less stable and structured. I also notice it includes different opacities—a key material intervention, surely? Curator: Precisely. These subtleties also impact the art world surrounding this piece. With its monumental scale, it integrates the natural elements within a carefully mediated artistic landscape. Finch nudges us to question the power dynamics embedded in how we frame "nature" within controlled spaces. He makes the viewer complicit with the selective way this image is presented. Editor: And there’s an incredible relationship there between control and chance. Finch harnesses industrial materials and fabrication techniques to explore these naturally occurring optical phenomena; the industrial enabling the experience of nature, filtered. Curator: That intersection feels extremely current. Thinking through this work makes you see the institutional space in an entirely different light—literally! Editor: Agreed, the emphasis on materials like glass truly enriches our reading of environmental themes—certainly making for a refreshing commentary!