Dial: Artwork by Erwin Redl

Erwin Redl’s Dial investigates emergence and the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of simple interactions. The lights interact in a system to produce an effect different from, or greater than the sum of their individual effects.

Soothing light sequences synchronized among the light panels emerge slowly over time. The sequences focus on various phenomenological aspects of deep monochrome colors, color contrasts, gradients between darkness and white light, as well as the multitude of shadows cast by the thin tubes the LEDs are mounted on. The lights and shadows emanating from the light panels spread beyond the panels’ frames to engage the walls, the exhibition space and the viewers.

Each light panel consists of four dials with eight high-brightness LEDs respectively. The eight LEDs are arranged equidistantly in a circle around a center pole. The LEDs point towards the pole casting its shadow. The lights of each dial are animated sequentially causing the shadows to rotate 360 degrees. Two of the LED dials consist of alternating white and red LEDs. The other two LED dials consist of alternating white and blue LEDs.

Curated by Kendal Henry

Artwork details:

• Light panels with 16 white, 8 red, and 8 blue programmed LEDs each
• On painted white board framed in stainless steel
• Number of panels variable
• Each panel 58 x 58 x 10 in, (width x height x depth)

Erwin Redl was born in Gföhl, Austria in 1963. He maintains studios in Bowling Green, Ohio and New York City. With an MFA in Computer Art from School of Visuals Arts in New York and a BA in Music Composition from the University of Vienna, Austria, the artist is able to expand his practice beyond the traditional Fine Art context. Redl’s work is informed by a combination of conceptual-structural thinking and profound craftsmanship both in electronic and traditional media.

The scale of his installations very often reaches large, architectural dimensions. The artist’s work was featured in the 2002 Whitney Biennial. In 2017, his large-scale kinetic light installation “Whiteout” was prominently showcased at Madison Square Park in the heart of Manhattan, New York. Public Art plays a prominent role in Redl’s art practice. His project series “Seeing Spartanburg in a New Light” from 2016 was the recipient of the highly competitive Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge Grant.

The artist’s work is collected by prestigious national and international institutions, among them the Whitney Museum of American Art New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Milwaukee Art Museum and Borusan Contemporary Istanbul, as well as many prominent private collectors.