Light Chamber dedication

If sculptors could touch on functionality and the social realm they would be elevating sculpture to a more powerful idiom.
-DO

DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 - Dennis Oppenheim's newest public project Light Chamber will be dedicated Thursday, September 30,at 5:30 pm at the Denver Justice Center, followed by a reception inside the Cisneros Jury Assembly Room. Commissioned by the city with four additional public artworks for the new justice campus in 2007, Light Chamber is the largest public art commission in the history of Denver.

Dennis Oppenheim spoke about his approach to the project and described its form in conversation recently:

"I chose to focus on what is called the judge's chamber, a place where a person's life can change drastically, for instance, from freedom to incarceration. My Light Chamber is a giant complex that can be entered and walked through, involving curved walls (some as high as fifty feet) that result in a vortex which completely encloses the viewer. The general configuration is similar to a flower opening up, with different petals made of examples of different flower species."

The event is free and open to the press and the public, but space is limited. To attend, please RSVP to Mary Valdez at 720-865-4313 or public.art@denvergov.org.

Light Chamber is the first of four public projects finished this fall. Dennis Oppenheim's Still Dancing for the Distillery District in Toronto will be celebrated Saturday October 2nd, Radiant Fountains in Houston and Paintbrush Gateways in Las Vegas will be completed this month.