American sculptor and fiber artist Janet Echelman brings her colorful nets to Hong Kong with a stunning display at The Peninsula Hotel. Earthtime 1.26 (Hong Kong) is an 89-foot-long and 62-foot-tall net that shifts and moves in the wind, acting as a metaphor for the connection between our cultural and physical worlds. This stunning piece of hotel art, which was created using 31 miles of twine, is a grand introduction to The Peninsula's new Art in Resonance contemporary art program.
The program cements The Peninsula as a grand patron of the arts and confirms its partnership with Art Basel. By bringing world-class contemporary art to Hong Kong, they're adding a new layer of cultural excitement to the already thriving city. For Echelman, the opportunity stimulated her creativity, as she was inspired by the environment.
“It's a perfect site for this unexpected intervention. I love jarring juxtapositions—they wake us up. I imagined a sculpture dropping from the sky to Hong Kong’s iconic Peninsula Hotel,” Echelman shares.
Earthtime 1.26 (Hong Kong) is a continuation of Echelman's Earthtime series, which started in 2010 as a way for her to explore themes of interconnectedness. In this case, the number 1.26 refers to time and how a day was shortened by a specific number of microseconds due to a single physical event shifting the Earth's mass. The flexible net becomes a physical symbol of the constant shift in the Earth's rotational speed.
The sculpture's flexiblity and lightweight nature also allow the natural environment to shift how visitors experience the work within the bustle of the urban environment. “I feel a need to find moments of contemplation in the midst of daily city life,” Echelman says. “If my art can create an opportunity to contemplate the larger cycles of time and remind us to listen to our inner selves, I believe this can be the start of transformation.”
Earthtime 1.26 (Hong Kong) is currently on view at The Peninsula Hong Kong until June 21, 2019.
Artist Janet Echelman inaugurated The Peninsula Hong Kong's contemporary art program with an incredible 89-foot long sculptural net suspended 130-feet in the air.
