PENUMBRA
BETH HUNTON
A penumbra is the region around the focal point of a cast, where the shadow is only partial, or imperfect. These form when a portion of the light from the source gets blocked by a shadowing object.
'Penumbra' by Bethany Hunton is the most recent Tunnel Gallery Commission as part of the Celebrating Hidden Middlesbrough project. It explores the hidden narrative of the ornate, elliptical railway station roof - designed by British architect William Peachy, that once existed in Middlesbrough, before it's inevitable removal due to severe damage during a German air raid in 1942.
The installation deals with the notion of material impact and human intervention on site. This form of materiality is dependent on the absence of materials, allowing the artist to reinstate these impacts onto the site to create a familiar experience for the viewer. By emulating the iron lattice girders from the roof and the shadows that resulted from the combination of these and the Victorian glass, the installation is reminiscent of the cascading light and shadow onto the train platforms. Shadows in which the artist's grandfather once danced in, at a young age.
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