14/2/2014 Ann Hamilton Studio

http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/projects/tropos.html 1/1
CURRENT
BIOGRAPHY
CONTACT
PROJECTS
OBJECTS
PRINTS
VIDEO / SOUND
PUBLIC PROJECTS
PERFORMANCES
SCRIPTS
PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED PRESS
2012 the event of a thread
2012 air for everyone
2010 stylus
2009 human carriage
2007 tower
2006 The Meditation Boat
2006 voce
2005 phora
2004 corpus
2004 aloud
2002 lignum
2001 the picture is still
2000 ghost... a border act
1999 myein
1997 kaph
1997 mattering
1997 bounden
1994 lineament
1994 tropos
1991 indigo blue
1989 privation and excesses
1988 still life
tropos | 1993-1994
Dia Center for the Arts
New York, NY
Materials: translucent industrial glass windows, gravel topped with concrete, horsehair, table, chair, electric buren,
books, recorded voice, audiotape, audiotape player, speakers

The Greek word "tropos" means turn, as in a physical turn of the body. The biological term "tropism" denotes the reflex
reaction or response of an organism to turn toward or away from external stimuli, such as light.
Hamilton's relatively restrained, austere treatment of this former factory space immediately focused viewers' attention
on an image/activity occurring at its center. The walls, ceiling, and pillars of the immense (approximately 5,000-square-
foot) room were unaltered, but the clear windows were replaced with translucent, textured industrial panes, bathing the
space in hazy light. Through this light, viewers at the entrance saw and were drawn toward a solitary figure seated at a
small metal desk in the center of the space. An acrid odor of smoke and burning permeated the air. Its source became
evident as viewers came closer to the seated figure. As the attendant read a book, she/he burned away the printed text
line by line. The figure remained absorbed in this task, ritualistic in its deliberateness. Over the duration of the piece, the
text -- transformed into smoke -- became absorbed as smell into the horsehair that covered the entire floor.
The horsehair, sewn in bundles, seemed to rise and fall like sea swells over a subtly graded concrete sub-floor. The ocean
of hair surrounded and isolated the figure. The sounds and the difficulty of walking on this dense blanket accentuated
viewers' awareness of their presence and movement in the space. Movement through the space also activated the audio
component of the installation, the low murmur of a man struggling to speak. His voice emanated from nine speakers
located outside the windows at the perimeter of the room, disturbing the almost reverential silence.
This piece was highlighted in the PBS Series "Art 21." (more information)
Photo credit: Thibault Jeanson
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For a full list of participants who made tropos possible, click here.
Related Readings:
Smith, Roberta. "Ann Hamilton: Tropos." The New York Times (October 22, 1993): C24.
McGee, Celia. "A Certified 'Genius' Tangles with Horsehair." The New York Times (October 3, 1993): Section 2: 41.
Larson, Kay. "Miro, Miro on the Wall [includes review of tropos]." New York Magazine (November 1, 1993): 98.
Phillips, Patricia C. "Ann Hamilton: DIA Center for the Arts." Artforum vol. 32, no. 6 (February 1994): 90.
Rimanelli, David. "Ann Hamilton: DIA Center for the Arts, New York." frieze Issue #15 (March/April 1994): 59-60.