Light into Darkness

In 1992, when photographer Jeremy Barnard and sculptor Andrew Chulyk were invited to exhibit their work together at the Newburyport Firehouse Art Center, Newburyport, MA, neither artist knew the other nor did they know that their fortuitous meeting would develop into an artistic partnership.

Both shared a common interest in abandoned places and the discarded artifacts of people's lives. And it was that common interest that lead them, in 1993 to begin a collaborative project involving an abandoned North Shore insane asylum. The result of that collaboration was an exhibition/installation, "LIGHT INTO DARKNESS- SCENES FROM AN ABANDONED ASYLUM", at the Essex Art Center, Lawrence, MA., and subsequently at The New Art Center in Newton, MA.

"When we first started this project there was a certain novelty in exploring an abandoned insane asylum," both Chulyk and Barnard admit, "but that novelty quickly evolved into an obsessive curiosity".

The Facility, long stripped of its furnishings and equipment, unheated, vandalized and left open to the elements for twelve years presented an unusual and demanding challenge to Barnard and Chulyk: how to capture the essence of a building that had housed one hundred years of madness and mental disorder with nothing more to work with than crumbling plaster, peeling paint and a few discarded belongings of former staff and patients.

What Barnard and Chulyk found at Danvers State Hospital was surprisingly rich. Their work, a remarkably revealing and disturbing body of work was presented in three sections that explore the buildings, the remains of patient art work found in the halls and rooms and Barnard's and Chulyk's own interpretive creative responses to the energies that still resonate within the asylum. "LIGHT INTO DARKNESS", was not a commentary about mental health systems past, present , or future, but a creative, personal, collaborative journey by two artists through the terrain of a forgotten world where darkness did not always give way to light.

DANVERS LINKS

The USA Films production of the film -Session 9 took place about seven years after the completion of Barnard and Chulyk's artistic project. Recognizing the relevance and impact of their efforts, the film company sought them out and conducted extensive interviews to be used in the Special Features section of the DVD.

To view and/or purchase Jeremy Barnard's photographs or Andrew Chulyk's sculptures please visit: http://www.galleryartship.com/

To learn more about the history of Danvers State Hospital and view the haunting pastels of a fine artist named Michael Ramseur, please visit this site: http://www.angelfire.com/id2/DanversStateHosp/

With the assistance of a host of other artists, Michael Ramseur has recently authored a book on Danvers State Hospital titled Haunted Palace. To view excerpts, or to purchase a downloadable copy or CD-Rom, please visit: http://www.thehauntedpalace.com/DanversState.html

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