Charlemagne Palestine's Island Song installed in the chapel, daytime view. Photograph by David Schalliol

One and Three Quarters of an Inch, curated by Peter Clough at the Former Convent at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Greenpoint, is a 56-artist group show presented in total darkness in a disused convent. Viewers are offered flashlights at the door with which to explore this four-floor exhibition, spanning video, sculpture, painting, photography and performance and engaging sound, sight, touch, and smell. 

The flashlight beam is like a video camera, theatricalizing the act of seeking intentionality amidst the ghosts of a haunted structure. The darkness, the smells, the mingling sounds of architecture and installation emphasize the sensual experience of seeing. The directional optics essential to visual experience thwart the impulse toward comprehensive knowledge in-the-round. We see only from our own point of view. Moving in the dark, flashlight in hand, we fall back into our bodies as the line between ourselves and what we see becomes manifest. The flashlight is a mobile proscenium, framing our own vision and perspective and rendering them visible.

The former convent at St. Cecilia's Parish is a disused nunnery owned by the Catholic Church, generously loaned free of charge for One and Three Quarters of an Inch. This charmingly dilapidated building is comprised of 40-some rooms and 75 windows, each carefully covered over with black paper for the exhibition. There is one window on the third floor, in an out of the way room, that won't quite close all the way, and left a gap of light streams in from outside—a gap of one and three quarters of an inch. 

One and Three Quarters of an Inch engages the statement of facts whose meanings require referents, and yet the referent is withheld, abstracted, or obscured. What happens to communication between subjects when meaning is either (1) so commonly agreed upon that any stated fact can be understood without speaking about its implication, or (2) so complicated and fragmented that attempting to specify its meaning becomes impossible? "One and Three Quarters of an Inch," uttered in a vacuum, is both mysterious, in terms of its meaning, and yet totally concrete and comprehensible, in terms of how specifically we can grasp that measurement. Yes we do not understand its implication; we don't even know if it's a large or small number (small if it's the length of penis, large if it's the diameter of a mosquito bite, etc.). But we know exactly how long it is. Using this dimension as the show's title highlights the project's own incompleteness or failure, both in terms of communicating meaning, and in terms of completing the task of blocking light. One and Three Quarters of an Inch is the thorn it its own side. Like the simple dimension after which the show is named, the artists here evoke the normal, diminutive, comprehensible, and embodied facts of objects, deployed to orbit meanings that remain intangible or unspeakable.

All images copyright and courtesy of the artists.

One and Three Quarters of an Inch was reviewed by Lynn Maliszewski for White Hot Magazine. Read the review here.
The Former Convent at St. Cecilia's Parish, exterior. Photograph by David Schalliol
Daytime view as you enter One and Three Quarters of an Inch. Flash lights are available in the wooden box on the table.
Jennie Hagevik Bringaker
Ghost, 2010
Performance
Length and dimensions variable
Jennie Hagevik Bringaker
Ghost, 2010
Performance
Length and dimensions variable
Ronnie Bass
Scissor Construction, 2004
DVD, 2:30
John Torreano
Dark Matters, 2010
Acrylic gems, acrylic paint on flat black acrylic based enamel
Courtesy of Feature Inc.
John Torreano
Dark Matters – Cube, 2010
Acrylic gems, acrylic paint on flat black acrylic based enamel
16x16x16“
Courtesy of Feature Inc. 
Charlemagne Palestine
Island Song, 1976
Video, 16:29, color, sound
Courtesy of the artist and Electronic Arts Intermix 
Korey Vincent
COLUMN 1, 2009
Plexiglass, clear tape
6‘x6“x3“ 
Grayson Cox
Hot Tubs, 2010
Silkscreen on furniture foam
22“x2“ (Dimensions variable) 
Grayson Cox
Hot Tubs, 2010
Silkscreen on furniture foam 
22“x2“ (Dimensions variable) 
Grayson Cox
Hot Tubs, 2010
Silkscreen on furniture foam 
22“x2“ (Dimensions variable) 
SISTER SYLVESTER
New Zest, 2010
Directed by Kathryn Hamilton
Voice by Devin Burnham
Design by Damon Pelletier
Video, Sound, 7 minutes Courtesy of the artists 
Adam Putnam
untitled (the way out), 2005
Video, 05:00 Min.
Courtesy of the artist 
Adam Putnam
untitled (the way out), 2005
Video, 05:00 Min.
Courtesy of the artist 
Sam Tierny 
Pan, 2010
Digital photos on wood, gesso
13 photos 3x4“ each
distributed throughout the building 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
Jennifer Gustavson
Untitled (basement), 2010
2 cubic yards of topsoil, tripod, CRT monitor and single channel video, tripod, veneered shelf, books, 2x4s, containers, plywood, tarp, cinder blocks, flickering incandescent light, dying flourescent light, flourescent lamp, shovel, chairs, plaster, paper, magnets, live plants, boots, garbage can 
G Lucas Crane
Resident delay, 2010
LM 386, wire, yarn, nanoverb
Dimensions variable 
G Lucas Crane
Resident delay, 2010
LM 386, wire, yarn, nanoverb
Dimensions variable 
G Lucas Crane
Resident delay, 2010
LM 386, wire, yarn, nanoverb
Dimensions variable 
Nick Imondi
Beer, 2010
Rigid polyurethane foam 
Nick Imondi
Beer, 2010
Rigid polyurethane foam 
Jan Van Woensel
Exit Paintings, 2010
Acrylic, watercolor, lacquer paint, pencil, and permanent marker on paper 
Jan Van Woensel
Exit Paintings, 2010
Acrylic, watercolor, lacquer paint, pencil, and permanent marker on paper 
Jan Van Woensel
Exit Paintings, 2010
Acrylic, watercolor, lacquer paint, pencil, and permanent marker on paper 
Andrew Thompson
5 of 13 and Counting, 2004
Mixed Media Found Object 
Andrew Thompson
5 of 13 and Counting, 2004
Mixed Media Found Object 
Nickolaus Typaldos
Illusion of progress (emerging form light), 2010
Collage and spray enamel
50x37“ 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Max Razdow and Ollie Razdow
Coconut room, 2010
Mixed Media, paintings, coconuts, shelves, LEDs, rope and Mai Tai
Dimensions variable 
Sam Tierny 
Pan, 2010
Digital photos on wood, gesso
13 photos 3x4“ each
distributed throughout the building 
David Matorin
Gold Ghosts, 2003-2010
4-channel sound, dirt, gold
Dimensions variable 
David Matorin
Gold Ghosts, 2003-2010 
4-channel sound, dirt, gold 
Dimensions variable 
David Matorin
Gold Ghosts, 2003-2010 
4-channel sound, dirt, gold 
Dimensions variable 
Sonja Engelhardt
Untitled, 2009
DVD-loop, projection
Courtesy of the artist and Charlotte Desaga Gallery Cologne 
Sonja Engelhardt
Untitled, 2009
DVD-loop, projection
Courtesy of the artist and Charlotte Desaga Gallery Cologne 
Gordon Terry
Crowley, Cagliostro & Casanova, 2000
Stretched acrylic, acrylic stretchers
84x84“ 
Gordon Terry
Crowley, Cagliostro & Casanova, 2000 
Stretched acrylic, acrylic stretchers 
84x84“ 
Gordon Terry
Crowley, Cagliostro & Casanova, 2000 
Stretched acrylic, acrylic stretchers 
84x84“ 
Jeremy Olson
Anathema, 2010
Acrylic, styrene, LEDs, paint, lens
Dimensions variable 
Jeremy Olson
Anathema, 2010
Acrylic, styrene, LEDs, paint, lens
Dimensions variable 
Jeremy Olson
Anathema, 2010
Acrylic, styrene, LEDs, paint, lens
Dimensions variable 
Rosalynn Rothstein
the ship of moon appears and disappears in the forest of stars, 2010
Monstera
Ti-tops
Dahlia and/or large chrysanthemum Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Peter Clough 
Rosalynn Rothstein
the ship of moon appears and disappears in the forest of stars, 2010
Monstera
Ti-tops
Dahlia and/or large chrysanthemum Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist and Peter Clough 
Eun Jin Kim
Untitled, 2010 Ceramic, gold paint
Dimensions variables 
Eun Jin Kim
Untitled, 2010 Ceramic, gold paint
Dimensions variables 
Eun Jin Kim
Untitled, 2010 Ceramic, gold paint
Dimensions variables 
Elwyn Palmerton
Untitled Drawing (7-14-10.1), 2010
Mixed Media (watercolor, ink, colored pencil, collage, graphite, matte medium) 
Deniz Ozuygur
Like an Elephant Forced to Paint Love, 2009
Acquired Elephant Painting, painted by an elephant in Thailand
(certificate of authenticity available) 
Patrick Walsh
Smoking Boots, 2010
Boots, Incense
Dimensions variable 
Lea Bertucci
Crossing, 2009
Slide projections
Dimensions Variable 
Lea Bertucci
Crossing, 2009
Slide projections
Dimensions Variable 
Deniz Ozuygur
Unicorn Horn, 2010
Mixed Media 
Jonathon deSimone
Scaffold, 2010
Mixed Media
Dimensions variable 
Jonathon deSimone
Scaffold, 2010
Mixed Media
Dimensions variable 
Sam Tierny
Still feeling filmed, 2010
Plaster, vermiculite, wood
58x25x23“
Justin Leathers
(De)Construction: M.W.A., 2010
Chalk, Paint
24“ x 60“ 
Samuel Consiglio and Marthe Ramm Fortun
An Open Couple. Very Open, 2010
Digital video and sound
Dimensions variable 
Samuel Consiglio and Marthe Ramm Fortun
An Open Couple. Very Open, 2010
Digital video and sound
Dimensions variable 
Audrey Tran
Raspberry Containers, 2010 Porcelain
0.5 x 0.5 x 1“ 
Jiyoon Koo
Bonfire, 2009
Oil on canvas
12x16“ 
Jjiyoon Koo
Untitled, 2010
Oil on canvas
8x12“
 
Untitled, 2010
Oil on canvas
8x12“ 
Vanessa Albury
Stairwell Installations, 2010
Plants, Lace, Assorted objects
Site Specific
Plants generously on loan from Jungle Designs, 61 Kent Street, Brooklyn 
Vanessa Albury
Stairwell Installations, 2010
Plants, Lace, Assorted objects
Site Specific
Plants generously on loan from Jungle Designs, 61 Kent Street, Brooklyn 
Vanessa Albury
Stairwell Installations, 2010
Plants, Lace, Assorted objects
Site Specific
Plants generously on loan from Jungle Designs, 61 Kent Street, Brooklyn 
Vanessa Albury
Stairwell Installations, 2010
Plants, Lace, Assorted objects
Site Specific
Plants generously on loan from Jungle Designs, 61 Kent Street, Brooklyn 
Vanessa Albury
Stairwell Installations, 2010
Plants, Lace, Assorted objects
Site Specific
Plants generously on loan from Jungle Designs, 61 Kent Street, Brooklyn 
Vanessa Albury
Stairwell Installations, 2010
Plants, Lace, Assorted objects
Site Specific
Plants generously on loan from Jungle Designs, 61 Kent Street, Brooklyn 
Ellie Krakow
Night Dig, 2003/2009
Single channel video
2 Min. 
Juliet Jacobson
Untitled, 2010
Graphite on paper
Courtesy of Johannes Worsøe Berg 22x30“ 
Elaine Cameron-Weir
Untitled, 2010
Ceramic, motor oil, hairspray, perfume and tobacco 
Nick Typaldos
Lance, 2010
Collage, monoprint and spray enamel on paper
11x17“ 
Jesse Bransford
Head (J. K. Huysmans), 2004
Acrylic and graphite on paper
9.5x12.5“
Courtesy of the Artist and Feature Inc.
 
Head (Shigeru Miyamoto), 2004
Acrylic and graphite on paper
9.5x12.5“
Courtesy of the Artist and Feature Inc.
 
Head (Jules Verne), 2004
Acrylic and graphite on paper
9.5x12.5“
Courtesy of the Artist and Feature Inc. 
Jesse Bransford
Head (Jules Verne), 2004
Acrylic and graphite on paper
9.5x12.5“
Courtesy of the Artist and Feature Inc. 
Sörine Anderson
Untitled, 2010
Human skull, fire, pedestal 
Allison Somers
Untitled, 2008
C-Print mounted on wood
11x14“ 
Sandra Moak
Yellow Paper Pads, 2006-2010
Mixed media
8.5“x11“ 
Sandra Moak
Yellow Paper Pads, 2006-2010
Mixed media
8.5“x11“ 
Janine Polak
„You can‘t win them all“ #7-12, 2010
Laser prints on paper
11“x17“ each
Editions of 15 
Janine Polak
„You can‘t win them all“ #7-12, 2010
Laser prints on paper
11“x17“ each
Editions of 15 
Ariele Affigne
The Awakening of Stone, 2009
Contact Paper & Styrofoam
5x5x5“ 
Tyler Rico
Untitled, 2010
Illegal Custom tint on Cadillac Escalade Windshield 
Jon Huron
Untitled (Dirge), 2010
Amplifier, theremin, marble, digital print, altered text
Dimensions variable 
Jon Huron
Untitled (Dirge), 2010
Amplifier, theremin, marble, digital print, altered text
Dimensions variable 
Tracey Goodman
perhaps there would never be noise in the world again—Shirley Jackson, 2010
Fabric, lime
9‘x12‘x20‘ 
Tracey Goodman
perhaps there would never be noise in the world again—Shirley Jackson, 2010
Fabric, lime
9‘x12‘x20‘ 
Tracey Goodman
perhaps there would never be noise in the world again—Shirley Jackson, 2010
Fabric, lime
9‘x12‘x20‘ 
Tracey Goodman
perhaps there would never be noise in the world again—Shirley Jackson, 2010
Fabric, lime
9‘x12‘x20‘ 
Alex Jovanovich
Untitled, 2010
Graphite, ink, watercolor paper; framed
10.75“x 9.25“ 
Kari Adelaide
The Thickets, 2010
Lepidolite Mica, inkjet print on paper
Dimensions variable 
Sam Tierny
Pan, 2010
Digital photos on wood, gesso
13 photos 3x4“ each
distributed throughout the building 
Audrey Tran
False Door, 2010
Foamboard, chipboard, electrical tape
1.75x30x82“ 
Audrey Tran
False Door, 2010
Foamboard, chipboard, electrical tape 1.75x30x82“ 
Matthew Wilson
BANNED racist McDonald‘s Ad (1:25) We‘re going to Walt Disney World (1:15) My Hedgehog response (1:26)
Girl in Puppy Throwing Video Found By Bosnian Police (take 2) (3:48) kaseyB51 full (1:31)
2010
iPod with audio courtesy of YouTube 
Alex Robins
Cats Found Painted on Auschwitz Wall (Then and Elsewhere #2), 2010
Mixed Media 
Jo-ey Tang
since a thing that comes to do another time to enter inside, 2010
Aluminized emergency blanket
82“x53“ 
Jo-ey Tang
its body beyond the limits, 2010
Table, leather boot lace, shoe polish, wooden soap dish, soap and soap scum
32.5“x12“x12“

resistance, 2010
Paper plate, shoe polish, plastic plate stand, plinth
54“x8“x8“ 
Jo-ey Tang
resistance, 2010
Paper plate, shoe polish, plastic plate stand, plinth
54“x8“x8“ 
Jo-ey Tang
its body beyond the limits, 2010
Table, leather boot lace, shoe polish, wooden soap dish, soap and soap scum
32.5“x12“x12“
Mike Pollard
Untitled, 2008
DVD, 12 Min.
Dimensions variable 
Helena Zhang
Theatre, 2010
iPhone photograph
18x24“ 
Nicole Kuprienko
Marble Table, 2010
Digital Print
21.5“x24“ 
Mila Geisler
Aliens, Saints and popular misfits, 2010
Oil on wood
Dimensions variable
Mila Geisler
Aliens, Saints and popular misfits, 2010
Oil on wood
Dimensions varriable
Mila Geisler
Aliens, Saints and popular misfits, 2010
Oil on wood
Dimensions variable
Mila Geisler
Aliens, Saints and popular misfits, 2010
Oil on wood
Dimensions variable
Jung Hee Choi
Environmental Composition 2010 #2:
Rice (1999), 2010
Tonecycle Base 65 Hz, 2:3:7 Vocal Version Site-specific variable dimensions
Mixed media: rice paper, video, sound 
Not pictured:
 
Stephen Lichty
All Our Wounds Came Before Us, 2009
Single-channel audio loop, 2:00