Artwork copyright Helen Lessick. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Helen Lessick. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Helen Lessick. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Artwork copyright Helen Lessick. Photo courtesy of the artist.

The Uses of Enchantment, 1996

Helen Lessick
(American, born 1954)

Location: University of Washington, Seattle

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

The Uses of Enchantment by artist Helen Lessick is an art installation based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Snow Queen." She notes that the artwork "investigates the philosophical aspects of nature and culture, as viewed through dual lenses of science and fable. The title is from Bruno Bettelheim’s book which investigated the psychological aspects of tradition children’s stories." The artwork was made of two lightboxes that feature text from the fairy tale with ever-changing images. One lightbox displayed the words "sweet dreams" which faded into a surface of prismatic glass that looks like snow crystals. The other lightbox displayed the words "sweet reason" and faded into a collage of real dried flowers. She created a layer of privacy glass, set on a timer for each lightbox. The glass would hide and reveal images in seven-minute intervals. In addition to the lightbox images, Lessick created plexiglass risers and an edition of 1,100 handouts printed on Vellum. It was temporarily installed in two lightboxes at the bus stop outside of UW's Meany Hall.

The artwork The Uses of Enchantment was located at the edge of the UW campus to focus on the split between life on and off campus, academia and common sense, and the actual split between the Schools of Art and the Schools of Science. The departments are two sides of the same coin: the student's experience of the world.

This artwork was part of a group of rotating installations on the University of Washington campus. The artists were selected in a competitive process to create images for existing lightboxes at bus stops outside of the UW's School of Art and Meany Hall. The images were reproduced as large-scale transparencies to fit the lightboxes. The bus stops featured the artworks for several months.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with University of Washington.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Conceptual artist Helen Lessick creates artworks using a variety of materials including painting, sculpture, and mixed media installations. Her works contemplate nature through culture, context, and metaphor. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Reed College in 1976. She received a Master of Fine Art in Studio Art from the University of California, Irvine in 1982.