Hills Snyder: Gloville
Casino Luxembourg, Forum d'art Contemporain
14 February - 4 May, 1998

Foreward (from the Gloville catalog)
by Enrico Lunghi

It is true that the City of Luxembourg has not been undergoing the development and ravages of inhuman
urbanism as have many other much bigger capitals; that it is not living at the same frantic pace as they do,
and that it is not experiencing the scale of social conflicts in suburban hotspots that so frequently fill up
the front pages. However, in spite of its discreet charm and some staggeringly picturesque panoramas, it does
partake in the general movement which drives the world’s centers of activity to link up, to mutually influence
one another and sometimes, to resemble each other.

The soundness and “accuracy” that Hills Snyder enlisted to translate the elements of his visual
environment --- at the same time encompassing his relationship to modern and contemporary art
--- into one amazing artistic whole within the framework of an individual exhibition at the Artpace
Foundation in San Antonio in 1996, had utterly seduced me, and his recent visit to Europe has persuaded
me that the focus he would give to our small city would be original and new, naturally feeding on
the contradictions that make it so special.

This Gloville is a journey to an imaginary city teeming with visual references Hills Snyder’s sharp eye
and agile, humorous mind, have gleaned on his second lengthy visit to Luxembourg: the iron anchoring
of beams on ancient house fronts; the laurel wreath that the Gëlle Fra, as a symbol of freedom, lays
down on the city; the French Horn that ornaments some mailboxes, a reminiscence of far-off days
when mail was not yet delivered to everyone’s home; the railway that cuts a path through the exceptional
scenery of rocks and valleys…

And yet, Gloville does not have any borders, either geographical or intellectual. The images recorded by
Hills Snyder are refined, stylized and stripped of their belonging to any local cultural context. The sculptural
signs which he draws from them could be part of the global, i.e., Occidental village which covers our planet
to a large extent. Logos, advertisements and slogans frequently diminish our vision of the world by funneling
it towards one particular goal which is consumption.

But assembled as one coherent whole, as a “semi-site” exploring the spatial potential and light effects of
the Casino Luxembourg, Hills Snyder’s visual signs invite the visitor to rediscover the place, to relive
its history, to stroll aroundAnd to give him/herself up to imagination: the richness of their potential
associations is opposed to the lack of semantic meaning that usually characterizes the signs of the economic
and political global village. Not to forget that they also are a veiled reference to the aesthetic of pop art and
minimalism which Hills, with the benefit of hindsight, is able to blend today in a joyful and humorous way.

Stair Foyer:

Ambassador: 106 X 47 ¼ X 12 inches 
Badge: 37 ½ X 32  X 1 3/8 inches
Sound component: cowboy booted figure climbs stairs, Machaut chorale piece is heard.

Gallery 1:

Legacy: 29 ½ X 27 1/2 x 5 inches
Double Negative (Net Stoen Bleiwen): 1 ¼ X 31 ½ X 31 ½ inches 
Déviation: 33 X 15 ½ X 8 inches per cone with approx.  3 feet between.
Butenaardswezen: 10 ¼ X 7 ¼ X 1 5/8 inches
Red Shift: 16 X 2 ¼ X 1 5/8 inches

Transition and Gallery 2:

12 projection drawings: 12 x 12 inches each;
stage light projection with transitional wall penetrated by cut out image.
Arch behind wall is completed as empty circle.

Legacy
Howl
Get Funky
ObliqueVisitor
AC/DC
Sit In
Jes Grew
Return
Jazzy Jeff
This Little Light of Mine
Proof of Providence

Gallery 3:

Mars: 55 X 38 X 1 ¾ inches
Return:  28 ½ X 34 ¼ X 1 5/8 inches

Transition:

Glory: 36 X 35 ½ X 5/8 inches with penetration in wall allowing natural light
and view through to original architecture.

Gallery 4:

Double Plus: 21 ¼ X 7 ¼ X 21 ¼ inches
Providence:  8 ½ X 20 X 1 5/8 inches
Jazzy Jeff: 37 X 24 X 1 5/8 inches
Howl: 12 ½ X 17 X 1 5/8 inches

Ballroom:

Station: 16 x 35 ½   x 38 ½  feet with 29’ of railroad track, two tunnels with wall penetrations and
ANO 1998 mounted high. Sound component: Luxembourg train station sounds intermingled with
American freight train, soul and gospel music, West African drums.

Gallery 5:

Entrance to this space from ballroom is lined with ultra violet and red fluorescent tubes.

Get Funky: 60 X 42 ½ X 2 1/8 inches
Oblique: 87 ¾ X 33 7/8 X 2 1/8 inches
Downsizer: 11 7/8 X 9 ½ X 1 inches
Jes Grew: 12 X 12 X 1 inches
Diva: 16 X 10 X 1 ¼ inches

Gallery 6:

Memorial:   4 X 16 X 16inches, with stage light and blue gel mounted on floor.