DARK ROOM:

cYNTHIA MINET:
SECONDS TO LAST

July 17 - August 28, 2021

Seconds to Last is a new solo installation by Cynthia Minet. Minet is known for her life-scale illuminated sculptures of animals. Made from recycled plastics and lit by LEDs, her works draw attention to our human dependencies on fossil fuels and electricity, as well as the resulting environmental degradation facing our planet.

The artist's first inflatable sculpture, Seconds to Last, depicts the nearly extinct Northern White Rhinoceros: there are only two surviving members of the subspecies on Earth.

In a nod to her most recent work, which focused on both human and animal migration, Minet utilizes repurposed camping tents sourced from her neighbors' visits to the Burning Man festivals. As our cities fill with people living in tents, the result, in part, of our profit-based economy, so too does the rhinoceros face extinction, due to poaching and loss of its habitat.

The sculpture is lit by LEDs whose colors reference the seven energy chakras. Presented in a darkened room at the museum, the project's sequenced lighting slowly extinguishes before the viewer, until its presence will be only sensed in darkness.