Nancy Holt
United States 1938–2014

Ventilation System 1985–92
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia, 2022
Steel ducts, turbine ventilators, shanty caps, fans, air
Collection: Holt/Smithson Foundation, New Mexico
Courtesy: Holt/Smithson Foundation, New Mexico

Connected lengths of duct crisscross the room in Nancy Holt’s Ventilation System 1985–92, punctuated by vents. Up close, it becomes clear the network is channelling air. As the turbine ventilators spin the work comes to life and is revealed as a breathing system, wondrous for its unexpected industrial intrusion into the gallery.

First conceived in 1985, Ventilation System belongs to Holt’s ‘System Works’; site-specific artworks that make visible the extensive hidden infrastructure we rely on for our everyday existence. These works are fabricated from the standard components of each industrial system and become a sculptural form in themselves.

No longer hidden, the steel contortions of Ventilation System make visible the ducted air that already circulates, almost imperceptibly, throughout our built environment. During her lifetime, Holt took care to tie the work closely to any existing ventilation systems within a building, following their logic and continuing the impression of air flow: ‘I intend the work to be practical yet playful, functional yet not really necessary, a part of the architecture’.