Allyson Packer - Portal/Portal

Some ways to describe Portal/Portal:

1. When you walk outside after it has rained on certain spring days, you may experience that rare sensation of the air temperature matching the exact surface temperature of your skin. You are suddenly unable to fully detect the barrier between your body and everything else that is not your body.
2. The artwork is a bit like this feeling—that if you close your eyes, you could become part of the air around you. It operates in a space where this has occurred, where the separation between one thing and another has dissolved.
3. Its title is two separate words that are not fully differentiated: the first word being the English portal (porːt(ə)l) and the second being the Spanish portal (pohr:tahl). Pronounced differently, they appear the same on the page. Identical in definition, their usages differ.
4. You could say the artwork itself exists within a portal (you choose the pronunciation here), a transitional zone between one thing and another. It is an installation that occupies the same psychic space an open doorway, humid air the exact temperature of your skin, or the feeling of repeating a word so many times that it becomes a meaningless combination of sounds.

Portal/Portal is a site-specific installation that takes Albuquerque’s built environment, and its many layered influences, as a point of departure.

Opening Reception Friday, June 7th 6:30p-10:00p This installation is best viewed near sunset. Accordingly, open hours will be from 7:00p-9:00p on Friday, June 28 (sunset at 8:25p) and Saturday, July 6 (sunset at 8:24p). Additional open hours are available by appointment.