Mylar Situations
Kevin Hofmann
2023 Summer Residency
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc076562a84132c723cc548106816159027ca82b724dbe6581b3f2c172e86174/Mylar-Trail-1-Large.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/db0f167a7105150f5e53c5e6aec6b0d62046b7a29928aa5642965895cc6ecbed/Mylar-Trail-3-Large.jpeg)
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![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a37b797270ccbe9628226fe594dfdf81f392d7ac0b33ae23a1362150613ca166/Mylar-Trail-2-Large.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9ea04b91d5af6f311582c9824c44dda2bc403a82e7d5434c0bc96aa2ccc6c17/IPA-49-Large.jpeg)
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![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a8a36b532d0850842bb337a16a64afce0a9ddb37ca7a789f68dbc642dc017162/Found-Smithson-5---Mylar-Island-Large.jpeg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/12f94f5614e8afddd8e854447b2cc9d7e48e2a4aac21ffa860cbffae3ab2e34b/Found-Image-3---Ithaca-Mirror-Trail--Robert-Smithson--1969-Large.jpeg)
The mirror is a displacement, as an abstraction absorbing, reflecting the site in a very physical way. It’s an addition to the site. But I don’t leave the mirrors there. I pick them up…
– Robert Smithson: ‘Fragments of a Conversation,’ ed. by William C. Lipke.
Mylar Situations begin in many ways where Robert Smithson’s Mirror Trails end: that is, nowhere and everywhere at once. Tectonically, Mylar Situations are just six millimeters thick, decidedly less physicalized than their mirrored-glass predecessors. This material evolution belies a modus operandi born from opportunism rather than creative vision.
Mylar Window exploits the thick, load-bearing masonry construction of 9 Nolan Park, the Block House. A deep band composed of four reflective surfaces lines the threshold between in and out, a scenario that visually distorts landscape and architectural experiences. Each surface reflects the parallel view resulting in optical illusions of sliced structures, inverted canopies, and grounded skies.
Mylar Trail spans a footpath near Fort Jay, Governors Island, blending and confusing landscape elements with their image inverses. The slightest change in vantage (or wind direction) causes a glitchy ground to give way to an unseen slice of sky, infinite expanses traversed in mere millimeters.
– Robert Smithson: ‘Fragments of a Conversation,’ ed. by William C. Lipke.
Mylar Situations begin in many ways where Robert Smithson’s Mirror Trails end: that is, nowhere and everywhere at once. Tectonically, Mylar Situations are just six millimeters thick, decidedly less physicalized than their mirrored-glass predecessors. This material evolution belies a modus operandi born from opportunism rather than creative vision.
Mylar Window exploits the thick, load-bearing masonry construction of 9 Nolan Park, the Block House. A deep band composed of four reflective surfaces lines the threshold between in and out, a scenario that visually distorts landscape and architectural experiences. Each surface reflects the parallel view resulting in optical illusions of sliced structures, inverted canopies, and grounded skies.
Mylar Trail spans a footpath near Fort Jay, Governors Island, blending and confusing landscape elements with their image inverses. The slightest change in vantage (or wind direction) causes a glitchy ground to give way to an unseen slice of sky, infinite expanses traversed in mere millimeters.