for the alley
Site-specific poem and installation using laser-cut acrylic panels, activated by sunlight. Created for Georgetown GLOW, installed July-December 2021. Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
for the alley
Poem featured in the Georgetown Glow alleyway installation (written by Emily Fussner)
Risograph print
17 x 11 in.
Edition of 20
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
Photo by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
for the alley is a site-specific installation and poem: I wrote it in and for this particular alleyway in Georgetown. Beyond the usual passing by or through, it is an invitation to ground our bodies within the space, to look closer, to notice light, to alter our perspective and imagine other possibilities.
The text is laser-cut in colored transparent acrylic panels that diffuse light similarly to stained glass, recalling places of worship. Can an alleyway be a sacred space? A place of reflection? With the panels suspended like a canopy, we read the poem through its shadows and light cast onto the ground and walls as we move deeper into the alley. Activated by the sunlight during the day, the shadows and text dynamically shift so the poem is fully legible only at certain times.
for the alley was commissioned for the 7th edition of Georgetown GLOW, an outdoor light exhibit in Washington, DC, on view July - November 2021. GLOW is presented by the Georgetown Business Improvement District. Photographs by Chris Chern, courtesy of Georgetown BID.
