Credit: Patrick Grego
As you drive through the winding curves of Route 11 in Gallatin, a gas station canopy appears, seemingly out of nowhere. But don’t expect to fill your tank here — this is a sculpture installation by artist Martine Kaczynski that transforms the mundane into the extraordinary.
Kaczynski, an artist from England who now lives in Old Chatham, N.Y., conceived and constructed this installation during her residency in 2008 at Rural Projects, which serves artists who use or address technology in their work. The Gallatin-based organization is helmed by executive director Sarah Anderson Lock and technical and artistic director Greg Lock.
Credit: Martine Kaczynski
Both the aesthetic of the American gas station and that of the Greek temple inspired Kaczynski’s project. The structure, four white pillars with a canopy, painted with the stripes that are typical of gas stations, is wood, cement, metal and roofing material, with PVC facade and exterior paint.
“The gas station is not simply a structural icon representing speed, mobility and power, but signifies the current debate surrounding the search for alternative energy sources,” Kaczynski wrote on her website. “I see gas stations dotted along the landscape like future relics, soon to be abandoned or re-utilized for other purposes.”
To emphasize the shift from fossil fuels, Kaczynski celebrated the installation’s opening in 2008 by transforming the work into a solar-powered outdoor movie theater with a single panel attached to the roof. Her husband, sculptor and builder Christopher Werner, engineered the solar system. (The two met in 2008, when he helped with the construction of Kaczynski’s piece.) “It took a week to generate enough solar energy for a two-hour film with sound,” Kaczynski said.
Credit: Robert Lyons
About 30 audience members sat on folding chairs under the canopy to watch “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and other movies over the summer. “As a Brit, drive-in, outdoor movie theaters were so American to me,” Kaczynski said, adding another layer of cultural commentary to her work.
The sculpture, now 16 years old, has weathered, prompting Kaczynski and Werner to restore it. With plans to celebrate the renovation, Kaczynski is currently seeking ballet dancers to perform in the setting. This follows her tradition of integrating high art into her exhibitions; for a solo show in Hudson last year, she hired opera singers for the opening.
Kaczynski’s interest in the “conflict and contrast in polarities,” as she put it, is evident in her desire to juxtapose the art of ballet with the ordinariness of a commercial gas station. This contrast, she said, not only has the potential to amuse audiences but can also provoke thought, encouraging viewers to contemplate the complex associations her work evokes.
See more of Martine’s work at her website, here.