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matrix of 640 LED (light emitting diode) illuminators, measuring
45 by 120 feet, displays patterns produced by Villareal’s
programming that suggest a coded game. Supercluster,
a “system,” combines related elements in a complex
whole. While some aspects of the project, such as the grid,
imply order, the animation within the framework displays
a more chaotic dynamic, which conveys a sense of being alive
as the pattern evolves. This project unites Villareal’s
interests in particle systems and cellular automata: individual
elements, governed by their own set of rules, accelerate,
decelerate, collide, multiply, explode, live and die in
a larger system.
On P.S.1’s scaffolding, nestled between the Midtown
Tunnel, the Long Island Expressway and the Queensborough
Bridge and with the backdrop of Manhattan, this artwork's
urban qualities resonate within its context. Mirroring the
patterns of pedestrians, traffic, trains and the city itself,
Supercluster distills the underlying rules that govern
a complex system and seeks a common denominator between
the organic and synthetic. While it shares the retinal appeal
of surrounding animated advertisements and billboards, Supercluster’s
fragmented abstraction eludes easy decoding and pattern
recognition as its numerical emanations vacillate between
signal and noise.
Leo Villareal: Supercluster, as part of Signatures of the
Invisible, is organized by P.S.1 Director of Operations
Antoine Guerrero with P.S.1 Project Manager Cornelia Tischmacher.
Signatures of the Invisible is made possible by The London
Institute: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins
College of Art and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design,
London College of Fashion, London College of Printing, and
SLAC: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Additional support
for Leo Villareal: Supercluster is provided by Ben and Donna
Rosen and Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond Learsy, and John Johnson.
For more information,
please contact Rachael Dorsey, P.S.1 Press Office, at press@ps1.org
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