Overview:

Lunar Drift is a permanent installation on Western’s campus in Miller Hall. The piece was created by Rebecca Cummings and Paul DeMarinis. Both are professors in their own fields of art, Cummings at University of Washington, and DeMarinis at Stanford University. Both came together in 2014 to create this piece.

In general, this piece reminds us of our place in the universe in relative to the sun and moon. In its entirety, it resembles the various stages and cycles of both the sun and the moon. Cummings and DeMarinis want to remind us of how small we truly are in this vast and expansive universe. The piece also gives us an idea of the moon at every point of its cycle and how it changes throughout. When viewing it as a whole, one can see that the clouds and sky are towards the bottom, and stars and universe at the top, resembling the various stages of our atmosphere. Each column of the work represents a month out of the year it was created, which was 2014. The photos for the piece were taken at 6am, noon, 6pm, and midnight, further illustrating the stages of the moon and sun not only for every month, but every day as well.

Painting by: Gunnar Schmehl

Artist Statement:

When I first saw the art work by Rebecca Cumming and Paul DeMarinis, It felt like they were hinting at something. A bigger picture to the whole piece. A greater meaning. In this case there was. While reading their statements they explain how they want to show our place in the universe. How small we are in comparison. A connection between us and everything. This reminded us of Michelangelo’s painting in the sistine chapel. How there is a connection between god and humans. A sort of beauty between the two. We decided to give our own interpretation of the both in our “hand” painting. The dark colors represent space just as Cumming and DeMarinis were fascinated by the moon and the sky. The hand represents the hand between god and humans. We really ended up wanting to beg questions and start conversation.

Music by: Alex Wark

Artist Statement:

I wanted to capture the concept of the moon and its ever changing cycles, as did Cummings and DeMarinis in Lunar Drift. Though there was no music involved with their co-operative instillation, DeMarinis incorporates experimental sound and songs into his personal art. For example, he has a museum installation that involves a wire that blinks and displays different colors in reaction to the music he has made. He also has numerous albums online that feature his musical work, including a song that uses an old pre soviet union sound bit. I then felt that making a song inspired by Lunar Drift, that uses concepts similar to DeMarinis, would blend well.