Last Depot Before Desolation

Colin McIntyre Sculpture Studio is presenting an exhibition of his newest work, an assemblage art installation and sound environment, named Last Depot Before Desolation.  The event is sponsored by Big Medium and funded in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. The works will be displayed in a unique unoccupied train station built in the early 1900’s. The historic depot is currently located at the up and coming industrial warehouse conversion at 979 Springdale.  

The show will be featured as a Select Event for EAST, starting with an opening reception on Friday, November 13th from 8 to 11pm. The exhibition’s gallery hours will take place during the EAST Austin Studio Tour, November 14th and 15th and November 21st and 22nd from 11am to 5pm. Additional gallery hours will take place on Saturday, November 28th from 2 to 6pm with a closing reception on December 4th from 8 to 11pm. 
Last Depot Before Desolation will feature his current work, which consists of a large assemblage sculpture installation  primarily built of parts from an old wood pipe organ and turn of the century printing machinery. The organ consist of seven octaves of pipes received from a closed down church in Detroit, Michigan. It was built in the 1930’s by one of the leading manufacturers of the time. The range of pipes offers a broad voice for the soundscape that will be generated entirely from the organ. The printing machinery parts, found in an Austin scrap yard, originated from equipment in a local bookbinding facility. The salvaged machine parts will be integrated with the wind generation system that breaths into the organ pipes to produce the sound. This draws a broad connection between two cultural processes that have transformed immensely in the last twenty years: the production of the written word and the generation of music. 

The sculptural and sonic environments will be complimented with the work of three photographers. The first is Robb Kendrick whose work is entirely devoted to early wet plate photographic methods. Here his work represents the beginning of the history of photography.   
The other two photographers, Julia Solis and Tom Kirsch capture haunting images of abandoned architectural spaces left behind by people to slowly be reclaimed by nature. These images focus on scenes from Detroit, the original home of the organ pipes. 
The ongoing sonic atmosphere from the organ will create a unifying fabric of all of the visual elements with the space. The visitors may come to recognize in the delicate vibration of the air that they share the same breath that drives the organ in its magnificent sound. As visitors enter the space, they will experience stepping through a portal into a sort of suspension of time. The idea is not theatrical or nostalgic in nature, but more a gesture of reverence and recognition of the grace of these cultural remnants.