Sean Merchant

Sean Merchant: Night Light

Chadwick Arboretum North: Fred Taylor Dr, Columbus, OH 43210

On view Augusat 24th – October 12th, 24 hrs/day (outdoors)

“Under a starry sky on a clear night, the hidden power of knowing speaks a language with no name.” – from An Elemental Thing by Eliot Weinberger.
We look up and we look into a mirror. The stars have guided us as we have guided ourselves. We know them. They are us.
“Night Light” is a small wooden pavilion that is constructed at the Chadwick Arboretum North, off of Fred Taylor Drive. The pavilion has a cloth canopy with an image depicting Ohio and it’s surrounding states and provinces from a bird’s eye view at night. The image was found on NASA’s Earth Observatory website as I was researching another piece. I was amazed by how the lights of our civilization, as seen from space, resembled the stars we see when we look up at night. It’s as if we are, or the sky is, a large mirror reflecting the other. I responded so strongly to the image that it became the generative force in the “Night Light” project.
“Night Light” speaks on themes of location and orientation in space, as well as land and resource use. The work serves as a place to consider our connection to these subjects.