Cappella / Chapel

 

site specific thread installation

Almyra Hotel, Pafos, Cyprus.

September 2016.

 

The term Cappella translates into the word chapel, describing a holy space which either serves a religious cause such as churches, temples, monasteries and cemeteries, or spaces which serve some form of altruistic cause such as charitable organizations or military establishments. Cappella can even describe a small shrine that might or might not follow an established religion, which may be situated at any location for example at someone’s doorstep.

 

The work ‘Cappella’ takes on all of those notions and attempts to build bridges with them all.

 

In a broader sense a Cappella can function almost like a “secret cell”, an egg or even an embryo about to hatch, even as an antibody moving just below the skin taking over the host’s body but with the aim to heal and neutralize a virus.

 

As a space free of geographical boundaries a Cappella can take the role of the protector of unfulfilled wishes, possibilities and dreams. In another sense it can hold the strength required of continuous change and transformation.

 

The weaving threaded walls of ‘Cappella’ don’t just aim to convey the delicate and even vulnerable character of the work itself but also the robustness of a cocoon in which the Observer almost becomes the priest, performing the ritual of their (own) transformation. The exhibit evokes a sense of wandering, contemplation, the quietness can even stir an intense meditative state surrounding one’s own existence.

 

The bilingual title of the work carries with it undertones that are reminiscent both of Michelangelo’s work on creation and of the holy ambiance which is undeniably omnipresent at the Pantheon.

 

The Pantheon has a coffered concreted dome with a central opening to the sky. This opening is the main source of natural light which is then imitated, using a combination of parody and reverence, in the work itself with the use of a mirror and artificial light. Carrying on this notion ‘The Creation of Adam’ by Michelangelo is also reflected in this work, for when the Observer looks in the mirrored dome all they see staring back at them is their own reflection. The idea of Creation then unravels to almost resemble that of playing a game, perhaps some form of a shadow game.

 

The Cappella work itself is installed in a hotel echoing the notion of an invitation, even accentuating the idea of a challenge offered to the Observer, which is to enter the piece and search for his/her own self under the terms of hospitality and transformation.

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Architectural design by Valentinos Stefanou