Art
A candle that wind or
water can’t extinguish
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I FEBRUARY 2019 49
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Kayaking instructor Michael
Smalley isn’t afraid to take
his students out at night
on the East River since a
50-foot-tall candle in Long Island City
acts as a lighthouse for him.
“When returning from a kayak trip
after dark, the ‘Candela’ projection acts
as a beacon of light guiding us home,”
said Smalley.
Candela is the name of the large
emerald green candle that can be seen
at night on a smoke stack near the
Plaxall Gallery in Long Island City. It
has been illuminating the neighbor-hood
since July 4, 2017, and is another
public art piece by Brooklyn-based
artist Andrew Ratcliff.
In 2016, Ratcliff was approached
by Plaxall Gallery managers Matthew
Quigley and Paula Kirby to create public
art for the neighborhood. Ratcliff was
happy to do so, and immediately after
seeing the smoke stack near the gallery
he was struck with the idea of placing
a candle on it.
“I can’t really explain why,” said
Ratcliff.
But although the image is simple
in appearance, making it a reality
was no easy feat. It required the help
of a team of engineers, photogra-phers
and videographers, according
to Ratcliff.
At the bottom of the smoke stack,
a theatre light creates the candle’s
green base while a projector plays
video of the candle flame on a loop. The
projector is housed in a tan case along
with a computer that turns the video
projector on and off, sends the video
footage to the projector and restarts
the video after 15 minutes when the
candle goes out.
The box that houses both pieces of
equipment had to be engineered with
wind resistance in mind, since any slight
movement of the projector could throw
off the image of the candle.
Ratcliff has painted murals across
the city and is especially known for a
piece called the Waterfall Swing, which
looks exactly like it sounds.
The artist said that he likes the ele-ment
of surprise and delight that his
work usually brings to the public. But
Candela does more than that. It ampli-fies
all the traditional meanings of a
Photos by Beyti Barbaros
candle, including hope in darkness,
according to Ratcliff.
That’s a contrast to the emotions
evoked by the other art piece on that
same building — a Matthew Barney piece
counting down the days until the end of
President Trump’s first term in office.
/www.qns.com
/www.qns.com
