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Maggie Pratt

An installation piece is a work of art which is created to occupy a space in time, and which becomes finite once it is dismantled.

Not unlike music, installation art evokes feelings and qualitative responses which live on after the immediate sensory experience has passed. It is artwork that can be revisited in this way, as opposed to the conventional museum experience.

Although usually impermanent, an installation piece can be moved or reinstalled in another avenue. Any subtle changes that may result only serve to contribute to the dynamics of the piece.

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Through this installation and related wall pieces, I have worked to find a balance between my desired way of working and a successful and honest translation of Lou Rawls' music.

Central to my work are images and themes from Celtic pre-Christian and Amerindian cultures. Materials are found and adapted, man-made and organic. The materials themselves offered me the vehicle for interpreting the music, and allowed me to work within my desired framework, without these cultural overtones.

To my ear, the music weaves patterns, is earthy and organic and fluid, both in structure and by the very nature of Mr. Rawls' wonderful voice quality. I find this music to be both lyrical and predictable, yet changing suddenly with the same spontaneity which characterizes nature/life. Lou Rawls' words and messages are direct and natural, universal and solid, as is our experience of the basic elements of the natural world. The music is sound that unifies and has a certain universality that to me is timeless in quality. "All Things in Time" is the particular work that I used for guiding these pieces, and Lou Rawls' thoughts on imagination served to motivate me as well.

In music as in nature the element of time drives all else - Lou Rawls' song reflects a respect for the power of this transcendental element to move us along according to a natural order and higher plan.

The pieces collectively reflect birth/life/decay/regeneration, and are intended to be as hopeful and positive as the music which inspired them.