CAN WE IMPLODE/EXPLODE THE WHITE CUBE?

"The White Cube" is a traditional concept used in architecture to describe an ideal gallery or museum space. Through the use of simple lines, white walls, specific placement of entry ways, lights, etc. "the white cube" is meant to create an environment that supports the optimal conditions for the encounter between the perceiver and the work being perceived in the gallery space.

Architect Rolf Gerstlauer, and curator the the RAM Gallery anniversary exhibition, suggests the time has come to explode "the white cube" -- to expand the concept of the neutral viewing space to a space that encourages relationship and connection to the larger world, the world outside the pristine space of the gallery or museum.

One way in which "the white cube" can be opened is through the use of light which can completely alter the gallery experience. The quality of the light itself can be a medium of "...transition, transmitting, transformation, transmutation and transcendence." Traditionally, light in the gallery setting is used to enhance the art on display. Here, the atmosphere and mood created by the light are integral to the experience of the space. "Light is the matter that has the power to explode the space -- or have it implode on itself."

Light also comes into "the white cube" through other mediums that foster a shift in awareness and perspective, so that the energy within the space vibrates with possibility. Broadly interpreted, light is the moment of recognition. It is feeling connected. It is inspiration. It is vitality.

Through our contribution, we explore the meaning of light, and intend for our sound of light to be part of the transforming energy in the RAM Gallery space that will help explode "the white cube."