{"id":3314,"date":"2021-09-01T23:34:41","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T23:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westnorfolkartists.org\/blog\/?p=3314"},"modified":"2025-08-14T21:17:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T21:17:13","slug":"esther-boehms-ether","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westnorfolkartists.org\/blog\/2021\/09\/esther-boehms-ether\/","title":{"rendered":"Esther Boehm\u2019s Ether"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u2018Nowhere\u2019. Cley 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n

Esther Boehm\u2019s \u2018Ether\u2019 is a stunning work. Immediately visible on entering the church of St Margaret of Antioch at Cley, its repeated forms are both separate and work as a composite whole. White, suspended in the air above the baptismal font and above the tombstone of Francis Neale Gent (1711); in front of the magnificent west window, catching every nuance of light on and through the fluctuating sheen texture of each form. This maximises both visibility and the symbolic purity of white. Sometimes it even reflects the stone structure of the cinquefoil and arch of the window behind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u2018Ether\u2019 occupies an area of around 13 square feet. It is hung high from an independent rectangular grid structure of painted bamboo. Each corner of the bamboo structure is reinforced with a triangle to which a small speaker is attached. The sound emitted (made by Esther on a keyboard simulator) is triggered by human presence, occasionally by a strong wind. To my knowledge, this is Esther\u2019s first making of sound in her work. The sound is abstract, minimalist, atonal and gently pervasive. It touches another dimension. And what a successful adventure it is! Amanda Geitner, the curator of Nowhere, commented that Esther was the only artist \u2018to take risks\u2019. Once the sound process has started, the sound from one speaker generates a response in each of the other speakers.<\/p>\n\n\t\t