Doug Hall. Experiencing the Sublime
While studying at the Rhinehart School of Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Doug Hall built The Inner Space Simulation Module (1969) for his MFA exhibition. The module, an inhabitable sculpture that mimicked the form of a NASA space flight simulator, was the site of a public performance; he lived inside for seven days to subject himself to a bodily experience, while spectators observed him on a nearby closed-circuit monitor. Since early in his career, Hall’s works have aimed to bring attention to the somatic presence of one’s body. The large two-channel video installation Chrysopylae (2012) is experienced physically as much as it is seen. Its scale, surround sound, and environmental elements—the work was originally installed in the dank, confined corridors of Fort Point below San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge—engulf the installation space and imbue it with the all-encompassing immensity of the sublime.