Back in 2016, we reported on The Vanderbilt Republic’s large scale visual project, which transformed the creative agency’s loft space into an actual camera obscura. It’s been a little over two years since our initial coverage, but if you missed the installation the first time around, you’re in luck: the team has decided to bring it back. A free public preview of OBSCURA / GOWANUS will take place this Saturday from 10am to 3pm.
Photo courtesy Vanderbilt Republic
Photo courtesy Vanderbilt Republic
This camera obscura turns the whole loft into a dark room with a hole that allows the outside scene to project (upside down) onto the building’s walls, kitchen spaces, doors and more. The Smith-9th Street Bridge figures clearly as a recurrent muse for The Vanderbilt Republic (check out its 2015 lighting of the Smith-9th Street Bridge), along with the skyline of Gowanus itself.
It’s a photographic monument, the creators George del Barrio and Ashton Worthington state – a “3,000 sq. ft. epistemic machine” that “will evolve through a month of experimentation, capturing an ephemeral Brooklyn panorama and personal moment in time,” they describe.
Photo courtesy Vanderbilt Republic
This time around, the exhibit will run from March 3 to April 8. Doors to the installation will open every half hour, and advanced reservation is required — so we suggest signing up quickly.
Next, check out what the abandoned Gowanus Batcave used to look like inside and while in Gowanus, check out Retrofret, a shop specializing in bizarre instruments.