New media art installation at Trinity

WARREN TWP. The tradition of church patronage of the arts may seem a nostalgic throwback, but this July, Trinity United Church (TUC) grabs hold of that past tradition and forges into the future by commissioning artist Eric Valosin to create a site-specific, interactive, new media installation.

There will be several special events accompanying the exhibition.

In his artwork, Valosin uses light and projection with drawing, painting, and new technologies to explore the potentials of contemporary mystical experience.

Im really interested in what happens to sacred space now that theres cyber space, says Valosin. How do we experience God differently ever since postmodernism? The way we see the world now is so vastly different than we did in, say, the Middle Ages. Valosins work at Trinity will reflect his desire to carve out new territories for contemplative, meditative experience in light of these shifting world-views.

The installation, titled As Above, So Below, is literally expected to shift the church onto its head; viewers will be integrated in real time into the projected imagery on the ceiling of the space. It will be on view by appointment through Sunday, July 27.

Accompanying the installation will be a reception and artist talk on Sunday, July 20, immediately following the 10:30 a.m. service; a Forum on Contemporary Issues of Art and Faith from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, as well as a Contemplative Service propelled by the artwork from 6 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 26.

Known affectionately to parishioners as the arts church, Trinity has a history of supporting the arts through its ongoing Artist of the Month program and TUC Mini-Gallery, run by arts educator Kit Bebbington and artist Ellen Waldstein.

When it comes down to it, art is about changing the way we see the world, and religion is about changing the way we live in it, Valosin remarks. Both are in some ways inextricable from each other, and, I think, vital to our experience of the deeper parts of life.

Trinity Church is located at 118 King George Road.

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New media art installation at Trinity