Susan Giles : Buildings and Gestures : Feb 6 � Mar 13, 2010
Susan Giles' work considers the relationship between memory and architecture. Recently, new works like "Memory Palace II" (2009), "The Sydney Opera House and The Taj Mahal" (2008), and the multi-part project "Buildings and Gestures" (2009) have specifically employed cathedrals, castles and other monuments build by cultures of the world over centuries. At the crux of Giles' work is questioning why we built these massive objects and what impact do they have on the life of an individual. Often working with models, Giles' creates these structures anew, integrating them together and in the process drawing connections between the different ways an individual form can hold significant meaning in the memory of individual and culture as a whole. The most evident demonstration of this may be in Giles' video for the "Buildings and Gestures" project. In the work, individuals one after another stand before the camera and outline with their hands a structure that over their life has embedded itself so finely into their mind that they can trace it easily into the air; their simple visual descriptions are a testament to the power monumental architecture has in informing memory and meaningful experiences in life.
Giles' work has recently been exhibited in major solo or group exhibitions in , Leipzig, Germany, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL, Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL, and David Risley Gallery, London.
