1:44 Sky Portal (2024)
The Sky Portal was designed in 2008 as a follow up to the 1:11 Sapphire Portal and applied for a grant from the State of New Mexico for Art in Public Places, which it didn’t receive, so wasn’t built at that time. It was finally built in 2024 for the Texas Eclipse festival.
It is an 18 foot wide, nearly 8 foot high, twelve sided structure painted sky blue that provides an experience of floating in the sky. The twelve sides relate to the twelve zodiac constellations. One of the twelve sides is partially open, allowing visitors access to the sloped interior space that has white “cloud” cushions scattered about.
The top is completely open to the sky, and a sky blue carpet for the floor completes the interior environment. Once inside, the horizon is blocked by the sky blue wall that removes all terrestrial visual stimulus, allowing participants an all-encompassing experience of the sky. It works equally well at night, as the sky blue wall appears the dark blue of the night sky. There is a small sound system playing a recording of Tibetan bowls filling the space with mediative sounds. It’s possible to perform live sound baths in the space as well.
