Out of Place
Ronit Eisenbach (Installation Artist) and Sharon Mansur (Dance Artist)
May 2012
Out of Place was a collaborative, site-specific installation and contemporary dance performance inspired by the history and design of the 1960s-era planned community of Reston, Virginia. Architect and artist, Ronit Eisenbach, created the three-week installation at Lake Anne that consisted of cast resin fiberglass floats whose form mimicked the planar and material character of the surrounding modern architecture. Ropes and pulleys attached to the artificial lake’s edges connect the floats to one another. The installation was activated by a dance performance choreographed by Sharon Mansur and her longtime collaborator Daniel Burkholder. The piece explored the fluid character of both water and human movement in contrast to the horizontal and vertical surfaces of the constructed environment. Out of Place was also inspired by the variety of ways that the plaza shapes human experience and action. On the evening of the dance performance, community members and visitors gathered along the water’s edge to participate in the event. During the performance and throughout the week, the floats, equipped with solar collectors and LED lights, harnessed the sun’s energy during the day, and released it at night to create a hovering luminous landscape of color in the lake.
Supported by Reston Community Center, Public Art Reston, Reston Museum, Friends of Lake Anne, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the University of Maryland. Supported in part by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts.
Michael Fisher, Design Assistant; Daniel Burkholder + Sharon Mansur, Performers; Zachary Z. Handler + Jeff Gipson, Photography
Photos by Charlotte Geary