Deacon’s Dome
Multi arts & multi site-specific environmental installation, exhibition and event– Boston Center for the Arts
- Completion Date: September/October 1981
- Media: PVC pipe, wood, plastic netting and paint
- Location: Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama, Plaza, Mystic Bridge Studios and Mills Gallery
- Dimensions: Main Dome: 40 ft (Dia.) x 22 ft (H); overall piece is 260 ft (L)
- Budget: $35,000 plus in-kind donations of time by artist associates
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With the purpose of kicking off Michael Roy Layne’s emergence as a major Boston artist, the Deacon’s Dome Project was inspired by the structure and shape of the sea urchin gathered while he lived for several years on the Atlantic coast in Rockport, MA. The main installation consisted of two domical (urchin) shapes with a 200 ft long connecting tube/tunnel running from the plaza through the doors and up the stairs to the Cyclorama center. Structurally made of PVC pipe and wooden platforms, the two self-supporting domes and connecting tunnel were covered in transparent plastic netting so the responses of arriving guests could be documented with video. The surrounding walls of the Cyclorama were hung with ten paintings (4 ft x 8 ft), each depicting a possible future environment where these dome-shaped (urchin) structures might be found.
The two month-long installation also included a stage structure, with performance, located atop the roof of the Mystic Studios building; a Mills Gallery exhibition of drawings and models depicting Layne’s visions for his cosmological model; a video play entitled “A Point in Time “ by Marvin Sweet, Michael Roy Layne, and Stephen Neil Parlin; an archelogue “Ultimate Violation” by Allexander Knevsenn; and an associated celebratory event with live music held within the Cyclorama.
Gallery
"My sculptural environments are aesthetically pleasing site-specific artworks that connect nature and culture by employing the three legacies for regenerative and sustainable design of (1) environment: natural systems, (2) education: experiential systems, and (3) engagement: cultural systems. By using a variety of art media and fabrication methods to create sculptural open spaces that are intended to support personal rejuvenation and inspiration, my sculptures provide venues for environmental learning and community celebration.”
Contact
Environment, Education, Engagement
Michael Roy Layne, Ph.D., RLA, ASLA
Environmental Sculptor • Landscape Architect • Community Artist
Studio/Workshop
135 South Main Street
Warrenton, North Carolina 27589
Office
442 S. Main Street
Warrenton, North Carolina 27589
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