troubling and inspiring crane clock at Artisphere

Cranes are common figures in East Asian culture and the Rosslyn skyscape.  Si Jae Byun's magnificent installation Crane Clock (2012), now ticking at Artisphere, exposes the inner tensions between regularly rising new buildings and delicate, organic life.  Those tensions echo and re-interpret David Amoroso's portrait exhibit Delicate/Violent (Delicado/Violento), now on display in Artisphere's Mezz Gallery.  In Byun's installation, the relentless clock of the circling construction crane does not overcome the delicate beauty of the small, circling bird.  The winged crane smoothly moves through the shadow of the construction crane and periodically emerges into bright light.  The vista below the crane duo is both jagged and visceral.  The regular, audible breathing is comforting.

The video below shows an inner projection of Crane Clock.  There's fear, but it is ultimately dispelled with time.  Urban development need not be inhuman and overwhelming.  It can support small, fragile organisms.