An Interdisciplinary, 18-month artist residency from 2013 to 2014
Organized by Jenelle Porter, Mannion Family Senior Curator, Remanence includes a large-scale installation on the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall at the ICA; a residency with the ICA Teen Arts Council; and multiple performances. Among these are Remanence: The Long Count/The Long Game from a collaborative work Ritchie created with, among others, Bryce and Aaron Dessner of The National, and Kim and Kelley Deal of The Breeders, and two new musical performances, Monstrance and Remonstrance, which will take place both on site at the ICA and at the nearby Chapel of Our Lady of Good Voyage.
The title Remanence: Salt and Light references both science and scripture. “Remanence” is a coined expression that integrates the words memory, remnant, and resonance and is scientifically defined as the magnetization remaining in a material after the magnetic field has been removed. Salt and light are metaphors in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13-16), a passage cited by John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as he stated his intention to build “a city upon a hill.” Ritchie’s project visualizes the connections between the history of Boston and of the United States; science, religion and politics; and the ICA building, which, in Ritchie’s opinion, is itself a beacon on the bay.
The aim of Ritchie’s overall project is to expand the space of painting and drawing into six collaborative disciplines: architecture, city planning, video, performance, theater, and music—all while still retaining properties unique to painting and drawing.