Andria Bibiloni - Im Real

Andria Bibiloni
I'm Real

Temple Gallery
259 N. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19027

Thesis Exhibition May 7 - 10, 2008
Gallery Hours: 11-6pm
Reception: Friday, May 9th, 6-8pm


Along with Andria's thesis exhibition she has been working on a project at The Lighthouse, at 141 W. Somerset Avenue, Philadelphia, PA. After Joan Dreyer's thesis show (which opens today) peer review yesterday Crafts drove down to see the project on its opening day and it is pretty incredible. This is what she has to say on the installation:

In medieval Inda, societies in the northwestern part of the country built stepwells in order to make ground water more accessible to the community. The repeating series of staggered steps made it possible to reach water no matter how much rainfall had collected. In the wells, people could bathe, wash clothes, and make spiritual offerings. Descend was inspired by this ancient architecture because of its communal significance.

Since this stepwell is situated at The Lighthouse, an element of the Puerto Rican culture has been included through atmospheric lighting. On the southern shore of the island, a bioluminescent bay called La Parguera attracts nighttime visitors because of its amazing radiance. Here, family and friends gather under the moonlight to swim in the glowing water where tiny microorganisms let off phosphorescent light as they are stirred by motion.

Descend was made possible in part through a grant from the Office of the Provost at Temple University and special funding made available through the Carnell Professorship.

Special thanks to professors Pepon Osorio and Winifred Lutz for their generous guidance and dedication to the success of this project. Manny thanks to Danny Diaz, Johnny Irizarry, Sharyn O'Mara, Terry Dolan, and Bill Wilkinson for making the facilities and funding for project materials available. Thanks to the many Lighthouse staff members who supported this project by providing access to the pool area, especially Collin Thomas, Robert Delgado and Joan McGeehan. Thanks als to Jessica Westle, Harry Stormes, Ben Gordon, Armando Morales, and Bianca Bibiloni for their assistance.

Images: Decend by Andria Bibiloni, photography by Armando Morales