Heavens
& Hells, 2009
cut Tyvek each panel 12.5' x 45"
The installation called “Heavens and Hells”
is part of the exhibition "Slash: Paper Under the Knife" at
MAD (Museum
of Arts & Design)from October 7, 2009 to April 4, 2010.
Hells & Heavens was cut during a three-week residency
at the Museum of Arts & Design in New York in June 2009.
Because the work is site-specific to the Museum (it is hung in two long
windows, each on a different floor), Coron decided on a dualistic theme
that would lend itself to this type of installation. She developed the
idea of “Heavens and Hells” while thinking about various philosophers’
concepts of free will and human responsibility, which seemed particularly
appropriate to the theme. Two approaches to the afterlife are explored
in this work: first, the idea that morality does not determine our fate
after death; instead, whether we are sent to heaven or to hell is decided
by pure chance. Therefore, we should enjoy life to the fullest. Second,
the idea that heaven and hell are relative to the person experiencing
them - what is pleasurable for one person may be painful for another.
The same actions are repeated in both panels, but with different consequences.
Coron invites the viewer to see into beyond the surface, to glimpse the
activities and characters which make up her scenes.
Coron is crafting her work from Tyvek, which can be cut like paper but
is much more durable. Although Coron sketched a rough version of the entire
composition before coming into the MAD studio to cut, for Coron, the cutting
process is a meditative activity that allows her to constantly remake
the narratives in the details. She began cutting from top to bottom, starting
from the very top of “Heavens” and finishing at the bottom
of “Hells.” Both “Heavens” and “Hells”
are editions of three.
