“Rouen Revisited” by Paul Debevec, Golan Levin
Photo from flong.com
Title:
- Rouen Revisited
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
Artist Statement:
Between 1892 and 1894, the French Impressionist Claude Monet produced nearly 30 oil paintings of the main facade of the Rouen Cathedral in Normandy. Fascinated by the play of light and atmosphere over the Gothic church, Monet systematically painted the cathedral at different times of day, from slightly different angles, and in varied weather conditions. Each painting, quickly executed, offers a glimpse into a narrow slice of time and mood. We are interested in widening these slices, extending and connecting the dots occupied by Monet’s paintings in the multidimensional space of turn-of-the-century Rouen.
In Rouen Revisited, we present an interactive kiosk in which users are invited to explore the facade of the Rouen Cathedral, as Monet might have painted it, from any angle, time of day, and degree of atmospheric haze. Users can contrast these re-rendered paintings with similar views synthesized from century-old archival photographs, as well as from recent photographs that reveal the scars of a century of weathering and war. Rouen Revisited is our homage to the hundredth anniversary of Monet’s cathedral paintings. Like Monet’s series, our installation is a constellation of impressions, a document of moments and precepts played out over space and time. In our homage, we extend the scope of Monet’s study to where he could not go, bringing forth his object of fascination from a hundred feet in the air and across a hundred years of history. Supported by: Interval Research Corporation and University of California, Berkeley.
Technical Information:
In Rouen Revisited, we present an interactive kiosk in which users are invited to explore the facade of the Rouen Cathedral, as Monet might have painted it, from any angle, time of day, and degree of atmospheric haze.
