Liquid latex was applied to the buildings walls to make translucent casts and then suspended them next to the empty swimming pool to create eerie shadows Photo: Emma Gencarelli; courtesy of the National Trust For Historic Preservation/Lyndhurst
Built in 1913 to resemble a Roman bath, the cavernous natatorium at the renowned Lyndhurst estate in the Hudson Valley lies in ruin. Abandoned during the Second World War when coal was unavailable to heat its boilers, the building inexorably gave way to the elements: water leaked in through the glass roof, causing it to collapse, and gradually permeated the brick walls. Today, the pool stands empty, emitting a mood of desolation while still eerily evoking the late Gilded Age elite who once romped in its waters.
Jorge Otero-Pailos © Jan Rothschild
For the New York-based artist Jorge Otero-Pailos, the ruin presented an intoxicating opportunity to reflect on transitions as well as societys current fractious mood. Responding to the building, he has created a site-specific installation called Watershed Moment, which opens to the public on 18 September. Visitors will be invited to enter the 4,200 sq. ft pool room alone or in groups of up to four to absorb the atmosphere amid a stream of water sounds that the artist recorded at Niagara Falls, the Finger Lakes, the Croton Aqueduct and other bodies of water in New York State.
Just as water made the natatorium a joy to experience, and then subsequently … destroyed the building, we are experiencing a shift in our culture that is both a source of creation and destruction Jorge Otero-Pailos, artist
Amid Black Lives Matter protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, “were all going through a major cultural transition right now”, says Otero-Pailos, who is also a professor and director of historic preservation at Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in New York. “Just as water made the natatorium a joy to experience, and then subsequently, first slowly and quietly, then suddenly and forcefully, destroyed the building, we are experiencing a shift in our culture that is both a source of creation and destruction. We are living through a watershed moment, a moment of cultural transition, whereby we are going through some deep soul-searching.”
“With this installation, I want to give people the opportunity to experience the moment poetically, not only politically,” he says. “I want them to inhabit the metaphor, to be in the watershed and in the moment.”
Lyndhursts natatorium was built in 1913 but fell into disrepair after it was abandoned during the Second World War Courtesy of the National Trust For Historic Preservation/Lyndhurst
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has overseen the property and its 1838 Gothic Revival mansion since 1965, added a corrugated roof to the pool building in 1985. Recently it has spent $300,000 on securing the envelope of the building from the elements and upgrading electrical and fire systems to bring them up to code, while also adding a ramp for accessibility purposes. Otero-Pailos says he worked with the trust to ensure that the interventions were as minimal as possible, preserving the ruins character.
The artist, who is known for making monumental casts of historic buildings such as Westminster Hall in London, part of the UK Parliament, as well as delving into their redolent odours, turned to an experimental preservation cleaning technique he has used in the past: applying absorbent liquid latex to the buiRead More – Source
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