Harries/Heder Public Art

Communal Well Gallery Installation

Empty Bottles with
Reflected Shadows

Location:	Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, HI, 1994
Client:	Honolulu Academy of Arts, Part of REUSE/REFUSE installation show
Size:	Room-sized installation, 14' x 10'
Materials:	14 water coolers, water bottles, paper cups, plastic bags, steel
Budget:	Installation funded by museum

The Communal Well consists of shelves of water bottles and coolers from which viewers are welcome to drink. Fourteen coolers line the walls where there are also plastic garbage bags in which used paper cups are discarded. The water bottles, once emptied, are placed in a floating platform in the center of the installation, shafting light onto the floor and adjacent wall and reminding viewers of their physicality even when empty.

Water becomes a commodity that is both deified and taken for granted.

Communal Well Installation

Wall Reflection

The appreciation for water increases as the levels in the coolers decrease and as the trash bags fill up with the used paper cups.

Interior Photo by

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