1.8 Renwick

Janet Echelman, 1.8 Renwick, 2015, knotted and braided fiber with programmable lighting and wind movement above printed textile flooring, 96 x 45 x 40 ft., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum, 2017.7, © 2015, Janet Echelman

Artwork Details

Title
1.8 Renwick
Artist
Date
2015
Location
Dimensions
96 x 45 x 40 ft.
Copyright
© 2015, Janet Echelman
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the American Art Forum
Mediums Description
knotted and braided fiber with programmable lighting and wind movement above printed textile flooring
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
  • Allegory — time
Object Number
2017.7
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2017.7

Artwork Description

Echelman's immersive artwork examines the complex interconnections between human beings and our physical world. The volumetric form overhead is inspired by the data recorded as the 2011 tsunami rippled across the Pacific Ocean toward Japan; the patterns in the carpet reflect topographic information about the sea floor below. The title of the work reveals the artist's fascination with the measurement of time; the power of this geologic event affected time by speeding up the Earth's rotation and the length of the day by 1.8 millionths of a second. Echelman's knotted meditation contrasts the forces we can understand and control with those we cannot, and the concerns of our daily existence with larger cycles of time.

Works by this artist (731 items)

View all artworks
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Juan Gris drawing), late 1960s, collage on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 2002.58.20
Untitled (Juan Gris drawing)
Artist
Datelate 1960s
collage on masonite
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Rorschach drawing), n.d., drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.408
Untitled (Rorschach drawing)
Artist
Daten.d.
drawing
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Bonjour M. Balzac (Peau de Chagrin), 1971, collage, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.309
Bonjour M. Balzac (Peau de Chagrin)
Artist
Date1971
collage
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (white cockatoo and other birds), 1969-1971, collage, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.297
Untitled (white cockatoo and other birds)
Artist
Date1969-1971
collage
Not on view

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      How does time affect your life? In this interview Janet Echelman explains how 1.8 Renwick represents cause and effect and the cycles of time.

      Related Books

      wonder_NEW_500.jpg
      WONDER
      WONDER celebrates the renovation and reopening of the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery with an immersive web of magic. Nine major contemporary artists, including Maya Lin, Tara Donovan, Leo Villareal, Patrick Dougherty, and Janet Echelman, were invited to take over the Renwick’s galleries, transforming the entire museum into a mind-expanding cabinet of wonders. Mundane materials such as index cards, marbles, sticks, and thread are conjured into strange new worlds that demonstrate the qualities uniting these artists: a sensitivity to site and the ways we experience place, a passion for making and materiality, and a desire to provoke awe.

      Exhibitions

      A close up of Echelman's installation for WONDER at the Renwick Gallery.
      Janet Echelman: 1.8 Renwick 
      September 18, 2020–May 13, 2025
      Renwick Gallery
      Janet Echelman's colorful fiber and lighting installation, suspended from the ceiling of the Renwick Gallery's Grand Salon, examines the complex interconnections between human beings and our physical world.

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      Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982, oil stick and waxed crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Sam Rose and Julie Walters, 2018.16
      Untitled
      Artist
      Date1982
      oil stick and waxed crayon on paper
      Not on view
      Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
      City is Man
      Artist
      Date1941-1952
      linocut
      Not on view
      Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
      Untitled
      Artist
      Date1976
      embossed paper
      Not on view
      Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
      Mandala
      Artist
      Date1977
      lithograph
      Not on view