Art Installations

Nicholas Kripal: Contemplation/Cultivation

A two-part site-specific sculpture - one a small pool, the other a garden - referencing the early penal philosophies of Eastern State Penitentiary: rehabilitation through isolation vs. rehabilitation through labor. Both pieces are highly detailed models of the Penitentiary's early architecture. Contemplation is an 800-pound "negative" concrete cast of the Penitentiary, filled with water to create a reflecting pool within the cell. Cultivation is a positive mahogany model of the prison in the form of a garden box. Mr. Kripal has planted the model's exercise yards and cells with moss gathered from the Penitentiary grounds.

The piece is exhibited in Cellblock Eleven of the Penitentiary. Added to the Penitentiary complex in 1894, the cellblock has suffered severe damage since Eastern's abandonment in 1971. Cellblock Eleven was removed from the historic site's pubic areas in 1995. Mr. Kripal requested use of a double cell in order to site the two contrasting sculptural components side by side, reinforcing the historical debate about the early penal philosophies of labor vs. reflection. He also wished to create a sculptural form that is a mandela-like image of itself.

Nicholas Kripal received an M.F.A from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and a M.S. Ed. and a B.F.A. from the University of Nebraska, Kearney. He is a recipient of three Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowships, and a 1999 Pew Fellowship in the Arts. He lives and works in Philadelphia.