Ana Richardson
 
 

Composed of concrete, ceramics, acrylic crystal, water, electricity, grass, machines, metal and earth, the Semiotic Cell is a closed circular perception area in which the viewer can move about.

By north, south, east or west, the viewer reaches a stretch of level ground: the square lawn of the Semiotic Cell. Two meters from the inner border of the square lawn, hundreds of aligned aquatic stepping stones reflect a glimpse of the sky, creating another imaginary square. A string of hundreds of heavenly mirrors, of blue or other shades depending on the mood of the sky, tempt the viewer to cool his or her feet in the water trickling over aquatic squares.

In the middle of the square lawn, surrounded by a ring of grass -- the hyper-expressionist garden -- stands the closed cylindrical structure of the Semiotic Cell. Its cylindrical wall and slightly conical concrete roof are entirely covered by orange-red ceramic medallions, like millions of little suns embedded in its skin.

Entering the cell from the south, the viewer moves slowly down through a hollow steel cube to the underground part of the cell. At the end of the cube, the viewer leaves his or her shoes in a labeled cubbyhole in the wall. The circular double steel doors slide open, and in deep silence the viewer is alone in a narrow corridor entirely covered in Venetian cloth.

The only light in this 360degrees red peripheral corridor comes through 34 peepholes in the 36 doors of the inner wall. The viewer can see 34/36 positions of the Cell and its field by rotating 360degrees in the corridor. A few doors open on the peripheral side and close automatically. Other doors are locked. They all lead directly into the central cylinder of the cell. If the viewer enters the central cylinder by the east door, he or she enters an orange semicircle.

The Mother Image is a mimetic machine that lies in the middle of the wet area of a large modular ground covering made of black metal with rectangular tubs filled with bitter liquid. Three white moons stand behind the Mother Image and reflect three substitute images by means of three floodlights. The floodlights are the only sources of light in the Southern hemisphere of the Semiotic Cell.

The Trench, located in the middle of a circle marking the southern and northern hemispheres, smells of the earth -- the source of life swarming with microorganisms that efface the traces of successive viewers in the cell. A bleak light shines from a turquoise false ceiling, bathing the walls and floor with color. Barely perceptible, the Rocker (Fig. 5) stands in the middle. The Rocker's 26 stems rise directly from the inner side of the cube and run in two parallel, symmetrical rows of 13. A light, translucent collection of pink plastic balls fills the ground between the Rocker's legs.

The viewer must lie down without rubbing against the dense line of the Rocker's legs and in a horizontal position rock himself in a continual shower of signs. By concentrating powerfully on the colored elements, the viewer transforms them from a shapeless, chaotic domain of perception into the ordered world of consciousness.

Editor's Note The artist describes her installation the Semiotic Cell in language that reflects the ideas, imagery and materials that comprise the work.