Georgie Friedman: BREATHING- LIGHT

19 January - 10 March 2024
Curated by Dustin Williams
Reception and walkthrough with the artist on March 2, 5 pm
Gallery Guide

BREATHING– LIGHT is an experiential video and sound installation that ponders the enormity of the intangible: elements too small to see – too large to touch.

Imagery of the Sun’s corona rotates across three large, curved projection-forms. The layered environment visually connects or separates based upon how visitors navigate between the forms or position themselves in the space. The shrinking and slicing of the Sun’s surface creates a scale shift. Either the sun (which is 864,400 miles in diameter – about 109 times that of the Earth) has shrunk to thirty-two feet wide, or we’ve become almost 20 Earths – 836,985,600 ft – tall. Meanwhile, formerly-tiny particulates catch light and air currents, creating a notable presence as they move across the space.

The elements in the sun, on the Earth, and in our veins, can at times feel disparate, but when considered together, they are the tiny and immense things that connect us all.

The imagery of the Sun used in this exhibit was recorded via the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength of 193 Ångstroms (19.3 nanometers) which highlights a spectral line emitted by iron atoms that have lost 11 electrons (also known as iron-12 or Fe XII) at temperatures of 1,000,000 K as well as iron atoms that have lost 23 electrons (also known as iron-24 or FeXXIV) at temperatures of 20,000,000 K. The former represents a slightly higher region of the corona and the latter represents the much hotter material of a solar flare. This wavelength also makes coronal holes (which appear as dark regions near the solar surface) more visible. Coronal holes are cooler, darker regions in the corona from which solar wind streams into space at high speed.

Georgie Friedman researched, compiled, and animated thousands of photographs of the sun to create the videos in this exhibit. The sun images are courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams. All other filming is by Georgie Friedman. The soundscape was created in collaboration with Radio Sloan. 

Georgie Friedman (she/her), is an internationally exhibiting video and video installation artist who creates single and multi-channel videos, sculptural video installations, and site-specific projects that focus on our personal and societal relationships to severe environmental circumstances. She bases her projects on a range of powerful atmospheric, oceanic, and geologic conditions, and has traveled to five continents, including Antarctica, to film for her projects. Friedman has been based in Boston, MA since 2005, but has lived and worked in various parts of the country. Though she mainly grew up in Portland, OR, this exhibit at Oregon Contemporary marks her first professional solo exhibit in the region.

Oregon Contemporary is supported by The Ford Family Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Oregon Contemporary also receives support from the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts. Other businesses and individuals provide additional support.