WW5: Ah, Motherland!

-over all dimensions: 18” tall x 14” wide x 19” long. Ice dimensions: roughly 3”x 9”x 13”

-towel under neath to protect floor, not showing but hidden under salt. By my calculations all water will be absorbed by salt.

-will install salt on 28th and bring ice on March 4th. Install before opening. This is the plan unless a freezer can be procured on site to hold the ice for the week prior.

installation model

SECOND NATURES

Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines second nature as “an acquired deeply ingrained habit or skill.” Cicero’s theory of “three natures” describes the second nature as a landscape altered by humans so as to make it more habitable. When that land becomes uninhabitable, historically, we find a new land. With a new land and a new home often come a new culture and soon after a new, albeit complex, identity. The physical action of state changing that happens in “Second Natures” gives form to transfigured landscapes, identities, perceptions, suggesting the dynamic makeup of identity.

I think the salt piece is about crossing borders, the dissolving of one into the many. In the context of Ah, Motherland! it draws upon the varied “immigrant” experiences of the viewer to set the context for the action that will (slowly) occur. So the viewer may be seen as the informant to what this change is, what it means.

And as for an artist with a different cultural background, I’ve been thinking of the work of James Turrell. Even though he is not a her, I’d ask him:

1. How do you keep exploring the same concepts without making the same work every time?

2. What are you currently reading?

Great first meeting, wonder women!

Following is our first question for discussion. We’ll address it in relationship to the weekly assignment (Narratives on Immigration) on the 24th. In which way(s) does your proposed project speak to the “Immigrant Experience”?

Feel free to briefly share what you understand by such as well as by “American Identity” and how it may relate (or not) to what wish wish to accomplish within the next 5 weeks.

Please remember that our main goal here is to create a forum in which you may relate theoretical concepts to your visual work, so feel free to bring up additional questions that may also help other group members dig in a little deeper. And don’t forget to have fun with it!

In SOULidarity,
Renata