Janet Echelman

Decorative Fiber

Janet Echelman, 1.8 Renwick (2015). Knotted and braided fiber with programmable lighting and wind movement above printed textile flooring. Smithsonian American Art Museum, purchase made possible by the American Art Forum, 2017.7. ©2015, Janet Echelman. Photo by Ron Blunt.

Janet Echelman’s dazzling Renwick Gallery installation invites us to visualize our interconnections with our physical world. Knotted forms, akin to fishermen’s nets, combine with changing colored lights and moving air currents to create a work in constant motion. When one part of 1.8 Renwick moves, every other element is affected — just as our choices to advance or hinder sustainability impact our ecosystem.

The title, 1.8 Renwick, refers to the 1.8 millionths of a second shaved off the day when the powerful 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami shifted the earth on its axis (and triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster). Echelman calls us to ponder our interdependency with these larger systems and cycles of time.