Alexander and Bonin is pleased to announce Hyperbaric–Hypobaric, a new installation by Paul Etienne Lincoln. Known for his complex, allegorical installations inspired by historical figures, memory, and sensorial perception, Lincoln’s works are often years in the making. This is the first presentation of Hyperbaric–Hypobaric.

Hyperbaric–Hypobaric is an installation comprised of ten main elements including an aluminum hypobaric chamber that houses a live sponge controlling the respiration cycle of the entire work, a glass plate engraved with the image of an atmospheric diving suit, a three hundred-link translucent chain etched with the names of evolutionary specimens, a transparent accordion, a diver’s pump, a mother-of-pearl encrusted gown mounted on a propeller, and two charts of circulation currents in the ocean and upper atmosphere. The chain extends upward from the installation to the gallery’s third floor culminating with a whistling canary, fed by air piped up from the ground floor.

The tenth element is a film, Undine’s Curse, featuring many of the exhibited sculptural elements. In this filmed performance Penelope, played by Nicole Renaud, sings Monteverdi’s Di misera regina in a grotto in Northern Italy, pleading for the return of Ulysses. Leaving the grotto, she loses consciousness as she ascends into the upper atmosphere in a hot air balloon. She then emerges from the depths of the Hudson River in the hypobaric chamber reconfigured as a sedan chair, accompanied by a sea shanty written by Lincoln. The sound track, intrinsic to the installation, can be heard through a giant seashell.