River of Light Trail

 

The River of Light Trail put on by the Culture Liverpool Programme, is a collection of eleven light installations along the Liverpool waterfront. With museums and galleries still closed, these large-scale artworks turned the city into one big art gallery. A clever adaptation that allowed for the event to happen whilst keeping visitors Covid safe. Liverpool has a rich history in arts, culture, and music; in many ways it’s what defines the city, and the loss of this connection to the arts and to each other has been a heavy blow for the community. So, an event like this was a meaningful reconnection to its heritage. The display opened on the 23^rd of March 2021, this date marked one full year of lockdown, making it a significant moment of commemoration. As we have now been given a timeframe by the government for the easing and eventual end of restrictions, there is a sense that people are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to me the River of Light display felt like a physical representation of these sentiments. This was the first display of art I had seen in person in many months; also, the first time I had been into the city in as long.  Among the tall buildings of the cityscape, surrounded by lights and the chatter of happy conversations, it felt like quite a monumental experience, sort of like a big family reunion. Each piece was beautiful, but there were a few that stood out and felt particularly symbolic. The first of which was Light a Wish: a collection of floating illuminated dandelion seeds. As I was there with my family and this was the first installation we encountered, we reacted initially with ooh’s and ahh’s and that eventually turned into a moment of quiet while each of us made an individual wish. I could see others in the crowd doing the same and it felt as though there was a communal request for betterment. 

‘Light a Wish’ by OGE Group Israel Light Art Collection

Fittingly, the next piece was Futures; this immersive installation of corresponding light and sound played calming rhythmic beats as crowds moved slowly through its tunnel shape. The idea behind this installation was a transportation to a ‘place where we can envision the future we want’. (Visit Liverpool, 2021) This seemed to be the perfect continuation from the wishes we had just made at the dandelions. Walking through Futures was a peaceful time to reflect and a procession into something more positive.

‘Futures’ by Lucid Creates

The real star of the show however, was most certainly Rainbow Bridge, standing 30 foot high and 75 foot long, it was the largest of all the installations. Lit with thousands of programmable LED’s displaying messages such as ‘Happy Easter’, it continuously altered its colours and patterns which were then reflected in the waters of the Mersey. This installation gathered crowds of people keen to take selfies underneath its lights, it felt joyful and inclusive with everyone smiling and laughing under its arch. The rainbow has been a significant symbol over the past year, representing hope, and communicating gratitude for the NHS and frontline workers.  We’ve seen them displayed all over our neighbourhoods and it’s these kinds of iconographical symbols that show just how powerful art can be. Like a beacon for a brighter future, the River of light display felt like an inspiring start to a new chapter.  

‘Rainbow Bridge’ by The Looking up Arts Foundation

Visit Liverpool (2021) Futures [online] Available at: https://www.visitliverpool.com/whats-on/futures-p472971 [Accessed 5th April 2021]

The House our Families Built by Caledonia Curry aka Swoon

 

'The House Our Families Built' by Caledonia Curry aka Swoon, 2021

Image by Hashimoto Contemporary
 

 As a child my Mom would read stories to my siblings and I every night before bed and one of my favourites was a book called Christina Katerina and the Box. It was about a little girl who asked if she could have the cardboard box from the delivery of her mother’s refrigerator. With it she created a castle, a boat, a race car and made up imaginative stories along the way. So, when I saw Caledonia Curry aka Swoon’s The house our Families Built, I felt really drawn to it and drawn to her artistic style in a strangely familiar way. It took a little while to realize why, but once that memory of Christina Katarina and the Box came back to me, I suddenly made the connection. Memories are a funny thing; they make up so much of who we are without having to live at the forefront of our minds; they exist somewhere in the background until some spark brings them back to life and you recognise their magnitude. The House our families built is like a box full of America’s memories, each one as different as Christina Katarina’s imaginations. Inspired by PBS’s ‘American Portrait’ initiative, Swoon created a travelling art installation/sculpture out of a box truck, in which live performances were held in various locations around the New York Boroughs. The truck opens up like a doll house; stairs extend out, the roof pops up, and fences and second hand furniture surround the perimeter. Inside sits a sofa and kitchen area, clothing hangs, picture frames sit on shelves, and detailed wallpaper lines both the inside and out of the truck. The wallpaper and detailed architectural embellishments were all created by Swoon herself, taking inspiration from both timber frame Cracker homes of early settlers and Victorian houses of the wealthy.  She invites both living and artistic depictions of people into this home. Her life-sized sketches are often done on plain white or light brown carboard coloured paper using a single colour to make her sketching’s, usually in black or blue. They have an ease to them, a connection to the hand of the maker, I can visualise her creating these sketches, no pretence or formula, just a natural capturing of everyday life. The pairing with live performances is the perfect marriage for this installation, the visual combined with the storytelling creates a unity and a connection. The stories taken from the ‘American Portrait’ initiative came from people from all across the country; sharing stories of familial and cultural traditions such as recipes, things they would like to let go of, their commonalities to one another, and their hopes and plans for the future. The ethos was “Our country is home to millions of people. Each one of us is unique, and we’re all part of the American story” This past year has been one of turmoil but also one of recognition, a chance to see where changes need to be made as well as  where connections can be made. Swoon believes that public art is community building, and she hopes that her art will fill a need and that through storytelling people can heal both personally and culturally. Just like the closeness I felt to my Mom when she read Christina Katarina and the Box to me as a child, Swoon’s art is a removal of otherness and a reconnection to humanity.

Goodman, Wendy (2021) A Box Truck That Carries Our Dreams of Home See Swoon’s fantastical memory box on wheels, “The House Our Families Built.” [online] Available at: https://www.curbed.com/article/swoon-house-our-families-built.html [Accessed: 1^st April 2021]

PBS (2021) Swoon: The House Our Families Built, Exploring the beauty and the burden of our personal legacies [online] Available at: https://www.pbs.org/american-portrait/public-art/the-house-our-families-built#:~:text=As%20a%20roving%2C%20mobile%20sculpture,About%20the%20Performances. [Accessed: 20^th March 2021]

Cannupa Hanska Luger

 

Cannupa Hanska Luger is a multi-disciplinary contemporary artist of Native American and European heritage. He creates his work using ceramics, found objects, and in recent years has begun to incorporate social engagement, and social collaboration to his oeuvre to respond to social and site-specific issues. (Luger, 2021) He grew up on the Standing Rock Reservation of North Dakota, the area in which protests against The Dakota Access Pipeline were held. The Indigenous peoples of North America have suffered immensely as the result of European invasion and generation after generation continue to endure the long-term effects of colonisation. They still experience adversity, persecution, and stigmatization today. Of his work, Luger says he would like to “communicate stories about 21st Century Indigeneity … (and) provoke diverse audiences to engage with Indigenous peoples and values apart from the lens of colonial social structuring”. (Luger, 2021) Communication is the key word here, but not through script or conversation alone.  Cannupa uses his art as a kind of storytelling, it is a fluid form of communication that surpasses cultural and language barriers, it’s more personal and adaptable, and creates connections by involving wide range of audiences. The world is filled with antiquated stereotypes and these typecasts act as barriers for change, understanding and positive progression. They unfairly compartmentalise entire groups of people and fool you into thinking you have an understanding, but these biased snippets do nothing more than breed ignorance.  Luger’s work breaks these barriers, opening the floor to create an honest dialogue of the Indigenous experience throughout history, one that crucially includes contemporary experiences. So often Indigenous people are portrayed through a folkloric lens, frozen in time; his concepts blend both traditional and cultural themes with the contemporary, expanding the narrative and giving a deeper insight into Indigenous lives across time periods.

‘(No) stalgia’, by Luger,Cannupa Hanska, sculptural installation, ceramic skull, bone, antlers, thrift store clothing, 10 x 5 x 8 Ft,  2014

The installation entitled (No) stalgia was the first of Luger’s work I encountered. I was struck by this wounded animal, causing a visceral reaction of pain and sadness. The ceramic work of the skull and antlers are so lifelike, a clear display of Luger’s skill. The knitted entrails and hide made from thrifted blankets, like something your Nana would make, soften what is otherwise a gruesome scene and give it a tactility. The deer is not some warrior trophy out of a spaghetti western, it represents a life destroyed by empty nostalgia and the idea that we define ourselves by some past notion that is not our current reality, nothing is harvested, all is waste. (Luger, 2021) The contrast of old and new materials run parallel to the concepts in Lugers work of past and present perceptions.

As I explored Luger’s other works, I discovered he was raised on The Standing Rock Reservation. In 2016 protest camps were set up in the hopes of stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline was to transport oil just half a mile from the Reservation and would run underneath the Missouri River, a lifeline for the residents.  (Friedman, 2020) The protests gathered supporters from a mix of backgrounds, other tribes and non-Native peoples stood in unison. Luger saw this as an opportunity for collective change and a platform for communication. It was during this crisis that he curated the Mirror Shield Project.  He called for participation in creating these mirror ‘shields’ for the protesters. The protesters lifted their mirrors and walked in a swirling water-like fashion to reflect the toxic behaviours of the police watching from above back to themselves, thus using art as peaceful resistance. (Luger, 2021)

Both atrocities and celebrations have a way of binding people together; Luger channels the energy of those groups for the benefit of all Indigenous people and their cultural heritage. In his own words Luger says “I want to lay groundwork… to establish connections, to mobilize action. I want to make real impact, to collectively challenge the systemic conditions of capitalism while claiming space for urgent and emergent Indigenous narratives.”

A video of the Mirror Shield Project can be seen here https://vimeo.com/194691860

Friedman, Lisa (2020) ‘Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Wins a Victory in Dakota Access Pipeline Case’ , in The New York Times, March 25^th 2020, [Accessed online] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/climate/dakota-access-pipeline-sioux.html [Accessed 17th March 2021]

Levin, Sam (2016) ‘Dakota Access pipeline: the who, what and why of the Standing Rock protests’, in The Guardian, November 2016, [Accessed online] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/03/north-dakota-access-oil-pipeline-protests-explainer [Accessed on 11th March 2021]

Luger, Cannupa Hanska, http://www.cannupahanska.com , [Accessed 11^th March 2021]