Visitors stride closer to the work of art, and within seconds they become intoxicated by the roaring and rhythmic sounds emanating from the four black walls of the E-Gallery. Visitors finally step into the dimly lit gallery, soaking in its mystical aura. Naturally inquisitive eyes dash to the right of the room. Standing brightly in a dark room is Monahan\u2019s Aquaeolian Whirlpool;<\/em> at 10 feet tall this work of art encompasses a whirlpool of bright blue water in a plexiglas container. A tornado-like whirlpool is achieved by sucking water out from the bottom and back into the plexiglas container through a side tube. As this process occurs rapidly, the sea-colored water forms a vortex-like body flowing across an array of 35-meter long piano wires. Monahan himself declares, \u201cas water rushes across the piano wires anchored in the Plexiglas container, \u2018aquaeolian tones\u2019 become activated<\/em>.\u201d Booming tones escort the flow of the whirlpool, constituting a mini tornado look-alike. Piano wires continue to rise vertically to a soundboard allowing \u2018aquaeolian tones\u2019 to amplify. Men, women and children seem equally fascinated by both the sound and sight of this enormous installation.<\/p>\n I sit at the gallery as an avid volunteer, and spend many hours with this particular piece. Each visitor\u2019s reaction including my own, seems to form an analogous pattern consisting of sound enticement and intoxication, followed by a mystical visionary experience. Despite this, there are those who question this piece in a somewhat negative manner. Some visitors allege, \u201cI could have done this\u201d and \u201cthat is not really art, look at the great painters of the past, now that was art!\u201d Although each visitor is entitled to his or her own personal assumption, wouldn\u2019t paintings of antiquity bore us contemporary folks? Haven\u2019t we studied and seen enough landscape and portrait paintings? Art, and what constitutes a \u201cwork of art\u201d is constantly being re-invented and revolutionized. It is precisely this that makes Aquaeolian Whirlpool<\/em> amusing and appealing to the eye as well as the senses.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Image1.jpg\" "\\"Image1\\"")
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\nGordon Monahan, \u2018Aquaeolian Whirlpool\u2019 (1990)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Gordon Monahan, \u2018Aquaeolian Whirlpool\u2019 (1990)<\/em><\/p>\n