Art & Archives: Rite de Passage, 1971, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA.

Instagram reel: https://tinyurl.com/bp6kyd4y

Excerpts: Galleries: Rockne Krebs laser sculpture, Rockne Krebs: New Orleans Museum’s Light Man, Vieux Carre Courier, October 15-21, 1971.

“The New Orleans art world will jump into the space age with both feet come November when the New Orleans Museum of Fine Arts (alias Delgado) turns on its new laser sculpture.

Rockne Krebs, the Washington D.C., sculptor responsible for this “sculpture minus object,” has worked up something never before seen on land or sea…

I got a taste of what this super spectacular might be like last summer at the Los Angeles County Museum’s Art and Technology Show. There the result of a four-year process of creative collaboration between noted contemporary artists and major American corporations was having its first American showing in the museum’s most complex and longest-running exhibition.

In that show Rockne Krebs devised a 100-foot-long corridor filled with red and blue-green laser beams that were aimed by mirrored walls and programmed for intricate sculptural configurations.

And Brothers and Sisters – it was a gas! Outside of Claes Oldenburg’s Giant Ice Bag which “performed” on the terrace, this Krebs thing was easily the best in the show.

As it turns out the Los Angeles piece was only a rehearsal because Mr. Krebs says the New Orleans sculpture is one of the most complex he’s ever tried outdoors. He’s been working with lasers for more than five years.

People in the French Quarter will be beckoned to the museum by a series of beams above 3 ½ mile-long Esplanade Ave. If they follow the beams they will at the end come upon “a fan of light beams, ranging in color from yellow through green to blue and violet, reflected off the surface of the City Park lagoon which will serve as a mirror for the work. The beams will also crisscross the façade of the museum diagonally and horizontally….

Mr. Krebs was one of the first American sculptors to try laser beams as a way of configuring space – which is what sculpture is all about.

He says, “There is much hostility on the part of artists towards technology and the irrational uses to which it has been put. However, I see the electronic technicians as the great craftsmen of our day, much as the silversmiths were to the 17th century.”

If we’re ever going to use technology to achieve the quality of life we want, particularly on the aesthetic level, Mr. Krebs will have surely led the way.”

*In addition see Instagram post https://tinyurl.com/y63ahmr6

A newly unearthed letter, as in yesterday (2/19/2024). A photocopy of a letter Rockne Krebs wrote to Robert Rauschenberg in January 1972 discussing details (and his artistic uncertainties) about his recent laser piece, Rite de Passage at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
 
Typed letter text in the last photo and in the comments. Jan.12, 1972

Dear Bob,

Sorry I didn’t get in touch with you while I was in New Orleans. About the time I had intended to ask you to come over I was thoroughly dissatisfied with the piece and wasn’t about to invite anyone to see it. I started to write and explain the situation only to discover that I lost the address of your place in Florida. So conveniently in a negative way, it was impossible for me to do something that I wasn’t about to do.

I was, still am, very interested on knowing what you think of the piece. In case you do have an opportunity to get over there, I’ll outline a tour for you. The piece is 4 miles long and has five passages. I call it Rite de Passage.

Passage #1 Begin at Decatur and Esplanade. Follow Esplanade to City Park. A yellow green line of light runs horizontal above Esplanade. (Slide #1 a view about a half mile from the source. I considered letting the beam terminate on Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant de Beauregard’s horse’s ass, but it nearly caused an auto accident. Oh well, it looked funny, but not to everyone.

Passage #2 as one nears the source the formal elements become more complex.
(slide #2 at 600’ from source)
(slide #3 “ 400’ “ “ )
(slide #4 at 200’ from source)
I used only shades of blue and green in the piece. I consider all visible elements within the milieu part of the piece for better or worse. The urban landscape has lots of white & red light. (slide #2 red taillights & slide #1 red stop lights)
My line of light is there in space, but it doesn’t illuminate. A line of blue drawn as if with a ruler against the amorphous volumes created by the trees but in real space, or without special reference against the firmament it looks as if the sky doesn’t come together.

Passage #3 & #4 no slides. The primary vista for passage #3 is on the other side of the lake in City Park. Three beams form a configuration as they reflect off the surface of the water.

Passage #5 on the portico of the New Orleans Museum (slides 5 & 6).
The piece was done with one laser.

Best,
Rockne

Published: 2/17/2024