Designs For Different Futures at The Walker Art Center - Anything Is Possible

My two favorite social distancing activities are nature and art, and luckily, there are ample opportunities to partake in both here in The Twin Cities, where I have been riding out the pandemic. The Walker Art Center has put up a new exhibition called Designs For Different Futures, that is an especially great show for these times, as we have to figure out new solutions for going forward in this world. Have. To.

The artists at The Walker are full of good design ideas, so many that I dared to start having a little bit of hope for the future again. There was a disembodied female voice from future narrating things in the background, lending it all a bit of a 2001: A Space Odyssey vibe. In fact, the first piece we saw even looked like a little spaceship (there were little projections inside).

In these Covid times, it makes a lot of sense to have a graphic on the floor instructing one how to assess the risk of a handshake. Comical, but also deadly serious - especially when there's a jackass president who lies about the risks. K, moving on ... 

I was very excited to see the Svalbard Global Seed Vault model on display, as I've been following this project since its inception in 2008. Designed by Architect, Peter W. Soderman, the Svalbard Seed Vault houses seeds from around the world deep in a massive, futuristic space deep within a fjord. 

The vault is like a giant seed library, with countries sending inn their native seeds in the event that a natural or man-made disaster would render a crop extinct ... they've now got backup here in Norway. (Of course, they thought it was invincible, but the vault has already been breached due to the ongoing Climage Crisis. Please CARE!!!) It's all pretty smart. Pretty cool.

One of the things I LOVED, but that you can't really see is the Future Library, 2014-2114 by Katie Paterson. Norway has a lot of cool things going on, because Paterson's library is there too. She planted 1,000 spruce saplings outside of Oslo. In 100 years, they will be felled to make paper to print books that are being written for the library, one per year by 100 different authors ... and most of us will not be around to read them (Frankly, I'll be surprised if anyone is around due to the Climate Crisis that we're really doing nothing of consequence about, very sadly). The first new book is by Margaret Atwood, of The Handmaid's Tale fame, sending her manuscript off into the future. I'm madly in love with this idea ... and trying to figure out how to read any of them!

 

Perspire, 2018 by Alice Potts shows ballet slippers soaked in human sweat that has crystallized and been dyed with red cabbage. Crazy. This is an attempt to show how in the future our accessories and clothing will be highly personalized ... or something like that. It looked cool. 

Looking even cooler was my favorite part of this exhibit, which was a series of dresses made from either 3D Printing or seaweed ... all materials that will definitely be in play going forward in our world, as our current fashion practices are simply not sustainable. My very favorite piece in the entire show (that opens this story above) was the show-stopping Syntopia Finale Dress, 2018 by Iris van Herpen. Vogue described van Herpen as "Fashion's chief scientist and perhaps also its leading futurist," and that surely shows in this jaw-dropping creation. It says that she based the pattern for the laser-cute stainless steel and black silk dress on the soundwaves of birds in flight, and that's all I had to hear. LOVE IT WITH MY WHOLE HEART. And want to wear it so bad. To something. Anything. Cheers to you, Iris van Herpen! 

Also spectacular, though much more earthy, is the Kombukamui Dress, 2018 by Julie Lohmann - made from seaweed and rattan! She liked how seaweed gets big and leathery when wet, and a totally different character when it dries ... and sees seaweed as a ton of design possibilities for the future. 

 

 

There was a really cool piece called In Plain Sight, 2018 that tracked the use of electricity around the world ... and how inequality around the globe affects peoples' access to it. The number one thing people need more of today is empathy. All the bad things happening now would be so much better if people could only find their empathy. This screen really drove that home to me yet again. 

 

There was an enormous bulbous sphere in that same room called Another Generosity, 2018 that changed colors and kind of seemed to breathe. It's filled with water and air (the main - highly endangered - elements of life on Earth, that reacts to tiny changes in its environment - much like our real Earth does, and why we need to be so  much more gentle with it. Please. 

I can't remember what this went with or who did it, but I agree with pretty much every statement within:

             

There was a Republic of Estonia e-Residency Kit, 2014 by the Republic of Estonia. In 2014, the little country introduced the concept of e-Residency, offering anyone the opportunity to be an e-resident. It doesn't grant tax residency or citizenship, but it does let you conduct business and use their public services, etc. Borders fall away (all man-made anyway, so I don't really believe in them), enabling a free flow of ideas and resources. Pretty cool. 

Similarly, Infinite Passports, 2014-2017 by Giuditta Vendrame and Fiona du Mesnildot proposes a system where members could exchange passports temporarily, as well as their geopolitical status. This would allow people to migrate about freely without permission from any government. I'm down with that.

  

The Handmaid's Tale red gown featured prominently in the middle of the gallery suggested an eerie future - especially if this joke of a Supreme Court nominee gets confirmed. It's about design for the future ... but I don't want any part of that kind of future - and it's up to all of us to prevent it. I feel sick just thinking about it  ... 

There was an area devoted to accessibility in the future, featuring the PhoeniX Exoskeleton, 2011-2017 by Homayoon Kazerooni. It's designed to give people with mobility disabilities and spinal cord injuries the ability to walk on their own. Activist Ace Ratcliff was quoted about it, saying, "A utopia is not a world where disability is a problem that's been solved; rather, it's an inevitable expression of genetic variance, and disabled humans are not just welcomed, but fully included." Now ... that's a great statement, but the irony was that my Mom and I got stuck in the tiny closet of a handicapped lift that brings you to this level, for like 15 long minutes, as the staff scrambled to get us out. It was broken, and we couldn't get out, so had to go back up to get out there (Thank God). Mom was therefore unable to access this level of the museum and was never able to see these works that were really interesting for her, having lost her leg and being disabled herself. I'm thinking the Walker should maybe invite her back for free now ... because she didn't get to see this cool prosthetic leg of the future! 

Stance, 2016 by Leslie Speer, Anthony Ta, Brendan Ngo, and Darren Manuel was made from saddle leather, fiberglass, skateboard deck (!), maple veneer, and silicon. It can be adapted to the growth of its user over time (COOL - because we just came from another leg fitting for Mom and it's a major hassle!). It uses regional materials, so its parts can be customized and assembled locally for less than $40! That would also be cool as Mom's new one will be upwards of $1,800 - that insurance will not pay. UNBELIEVABLE still how bad our country's healthcare system is, It really is, and must be reformed. Moving on ... 

 

... to Stranger Visions, 2012-2013 by Heather Dewey-Hagborg. This work addresses genetic surveillance and the ethics of accessing another person's genetic information without their knowledge. Dewey-Hagborg collected chewed up chewing gum from around New York City, and worked with a lab to extract the DNA. In a process called "Phenotyping", she took their genetic information to make portraits of what the person who chewed the gum most likely looked like. TRIPPY. It was very Game Of Thrones Man with No Face-y. 

There was so much to see, and you'll want to see it, as I've included very little of the entire show here. There are other great exhibits happening at The Walker now as well, like Don't Let This Be Easy, celebrating the work of women artists and feminism (The Walker does a great job of being socially timely). All of the works were great, but I was really struck by this file cabinet with shirts in it, saying things like, "One of the ways people hurt me is ...". Please just trust me that you want to see this whole room for yourself. 

You have to love the Selection from Don't Look Back, 1999 by Fiona Banner from the permanent collection. Banner has screenprinted transcripts from the classic Bob Dylan documentary, and it's great as a whole ... 

... and then fun to zoom in on to remember that part of the movie and how cool it was. Is. Again, there is SO much to see and our time was running out, so I urge you to go and explore for yourselves, as it's a really good social distancing activity, as we crossed paths with very few other people in the galleries. 

Racing by a few walls from the permanent collection, I was delighted to see a piece (I Got A Job To Do, 2003) from our Venice, California friend (and Cali Loco!) Llyn Foulkes! That made my heart happy, as I've been missing Venice SO much, and it's nice to see a little part of it even here in the North. 

There is also an exhibit of Jasper Johns prints from 1960-2018. Our favorite from An Art Of Changes was his Flags, 1965. It had one of those optical illusion games, where you stare at the white dot on the flag for 15 seconds and then look at the plain gray panel and you can still see the flag there in your tripping out retinas. 

That coolness was a great finale for our wonderful day at The Walker. It gave us a lot to think about as we go forward in this world, and it was a little reassuring that there are such smart, creative, talented people hard at work around the globe making designs for all of the different future possibilities we may face.

I've said it many times before, but art that makes you stop and think about ways to make our current world better is the very best kind. And this show is full of that. Please go, please think, and please enjoy! 

Walker Art Center 

Designs For Different Futures

September 12, 2020 - April 11, 2021 

The Labor We Wear And The Enduring Soul At MIA - Art To Make You Think

The Minneapolis Institute of Art was my last real outing before the Covid quarantine lockdown began last Spring, when I was super impressed with the immigration exhibit, When Home Won't Let You Stay. Well, MIA is back open, and back with another excellent, eye opening exhibit called The Labor We Wear, by artist Rachel Breen. 

 

The show serves to bring attention to the relationship between garment labor workers and the fashion that we wear - and very much take for granted. 

My Mom is both an artist and a seamstress (her day job most of her life), so this was a perfect show to bring her to, and the perfect situation to get her out of the house for. MIA is great for social distancing, we barely saw another soul the whole afternoon. You must have a reservation at a given time slot, you must wear a mask, and it all felt very safe - plus the art is great! 

The show is a couple of rooms, both festooned with large-scale installations of parts of clothing. You never think about button plackets, but you do when there's an entire wall of them.

Sleeves took up another whole wall, and were accompanied by stories of historical disasters in both Bangladesh and New York City that killed thousands of garment workers trapped by fire. 

It's awful to think about, especially when you realize that those workers were being paid pennies so that you could go get a cheap, disposable shirt - that in turn poisons the environment. 

We've sure got a lot of work to do in this world to make it better for everyone ...

The toll that the garment industry takes on both humans and the environment is something that we really have to figure out. I LOVE clothes, and I definitely share in the blame of participating in throw-away fashion, and am actively trying to be better about my shopping choices. Thrifting, upcycling, clothing swaps, donating, and investing in pieces that can stand the test of time are a few of the ways we can do better by our global citizens and planet. We can always be better. 

MIA has a massive collection of art, and there is a lot to cover. We had also booked a time slot at the Walker Art Center on this Art Day, so we couldn't fully dig into all that MIA has to offer, but we did get to check out another great show currently on display at MIA - The Enduring Soul. This exhibit by African and African American artists shows the relationship between ancestors and the living, and between the seen and the unseen.

With all that has been going on in Minneapolis this year in the name of racial equality and social justice, this show also couldn't be better suited or timed for the moment. MIA impressing yet again. Carrying on with the fabric theme, The Enduring Soul opens with a huge piece called Carousel Merge, 1971 by Sam Gilliam. Its drapes and flexibility suggests the improvisation of jazz, a major influence on African American artists of the time. Hep! 

We loved Soundsuit, 2010 by Nick Cave (not the musician). The soundsuit is meant to create a protective layer for the wearer, to protect them from prejudice. Though they look like a lot of fun, with jack-in-the-boxes and other kid noisemakers, the intent behind it is actually quite dark - and shows yet another example of how we all can and must do better for our fellow world citizens.

Thank You Jesus for Paul Robeson (and for Nicholas Murray's Photograph - 1926, 1995 by Emma Amos examines the Black body as a source of power and beauty. A gorgeous piece, that draws inspiration from the Civil Rights struggle that we are still very much actively fighting. 

Kevin Beasley's Queen of the Night, 2018 was a multi-media sculpture of the sort I love - the description said, "Housedresses, kaftans, do-rags, Tshirts, CDs, hair rollers, clothespins, hair extensions (tumble weave), fake gold dookie chain, resin" - all serving to conjure up images of the strong Black females in the artist's life. It also references the "Burney Relief", a clay relief from ancient Babylonia - only that nude, winged goddess did not get to have a halo made out of cds. 

Kwame Brathwaite showed his awesome Untitled (Black Is Beautiful Poster from 1970), 1970 (printed 2018), and the photos backed up the statement they created. Beautifully.

An Egungun ceremonial outfit, 1930-1950 by a Yoruba artist hung from the ceiling, with its multiple strands of fibers symbolizing strands of DNA as it serves as a manifestation to their ancestors. Cool.

African Americans have been through so much in this country - and it continues to this hour. There is nothing we can do to make it up to them, not even reparations would make a dent in the collective trauma inflicted on this entire race of people for the entirety of this nation's history. But we can start trying. We can celebrate their art, their traditions, and their very lives - because they MATTER. SO MUCH. It's heartbreaking to think that we are still having to take to the streets to demand racial equality at this stage of our history - but here we are. And we won't stop. Crossroads Marker with Little Hand, Reaching, 2015 by Renée Stout reminds us of the slave passage, and the voyages to this country that began in chains. Watching the nightly news reminds us that these chains are still unbroken - and it's up to all of us to destroy them together. Heavy ... but necessary to confront. NOW.

Mom is a fan of the classics, and we had about 20 minutes to run upstairs and see some of her old favorites, like Olive Trees, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh ...

... and a beautiful Tahitian Landscape, 1891 by Paul Gaugin.

There was so much more to see, and I made a solemn promise to Mom that we would return on a gloomy day to take it all in, but we had to get to the Walker for our next art time slot! Art Day! I love MIA, and I love that they have been bringing such great, thought provoking art to the People - for free - and doing such a great job of having IMPORTANT shows, not just fluff for the masses. I truly appreciate it, and I know I'm not alone. And I can't wait to see what you'll do next! Thanks, MIA!

The Labor We Wear -  July 18, 2020 - November 1, 2020 MIA

The Enduring Soul - October 26, 2019 - April 4, 2021 MIA

Hearts Of Our People - Native Women Artists At The Minneapolis Institute Of Arts

I've been missing writing stories, and then I went to the most spectacular art exhibit yesterday here in Minneapolis, and thought "This is a story for EVERYONE!," and as my Minnesota friends always read about my Venice/Los Angeles stories, I thought it might be nice for them to read about something in their own town, and L.A. to have something to try to get to before Hearts Of Our People: Native Women Artists ends in August (though I suspect it will be extended - it's so good). It was one of the best, most moving art shows I've ever attended, and everyone who can must go. I think I'll make "Clogtown" be my name for my Minnesota stories, after the popular Scandinavian shoe I wear all the time here.

The MIA is huge, so the ticket woman told us to "Look for the black El Camino", which we found easily (and was actually an art installation restored and done up in traditional pottery patterns by Rose B. Simpson - Santa Clara tribe) and collected our audio headsets to really understand the exhibit. Next to the ticket counter was a shelf with various native medicines to be made as offerings from Natives throughout the exhibit. As the sign said, "The center of the circle of life is respect."

You pass over an installation by Mona M. Smith (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate) of a babbling brook in the woods - to enter the exhibit, where another projection of a Native woman (Juanita Espinosa) welcomes visitors in the Dakota language. The state name "Minnesota" comes from the Dakhota word "Mnisota" - "land where the water reflects the sky". If you've ever flown into Minneapolis in the daytime, you know this to be true. I learned that the center of the Dakota universe is "Bdote" - "Where two waters come together" - which is the exact spot where the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers meet. There is no better place for this first of its kind exhibit featuring all Native women to have taken place, and I couldn't have loved it more.

Each title card was written in both English and the Native translation (if available or chosen to do so), where some of the written languages were art unto themselves. The art dates back 1,000 years, and the show is so extensive, you will look at all of this and still have so much more to see. The audio tour was helpful (I've never nerded out and done that before, and now I'm mad at how much I've missed out on!), and when hearing the stories of the art in the artist's voice and with their emotion behind it, it brought chills and tears more than once. Like when learning about the Give Away Horses beaded dress and accessories by three generations of women.

Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty, her daughter Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty, and granddaughter, Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Dahkota/Nakoda) all beaded this masterpiece together, and the proud legacy passed down is visible in each tiny bead making up the beauty of the whole. It's stunning, and such a piece of living history. The same was true of Blanket Stories: Three Sisters, Four Pelts, Sky Woman, Cousin Rose, and All My Relations, 2007 by Marie Watt (Seneca Nation of Indians). The blanket column is meant to resemble Greek columns, but also Native totem poles. Blankets are given for gifts at important life celebrations, and play a large role in Native tradition. How cool.

Also cool were the baskets of offerings that Native visitors have left behind, and all are to be used in a big celebration at the closing of this show.

While some of the art went back centuries, there was also very much a modern presence. In Hit, 2008 by Tanis S'eiltin, (Tlingit) comments on all the massacres of Native people connected with the modern U.S. military invasions. She understands how many of these missions are advertised as "Saving women and children", while really being greedy military actions. Still. Heavy.

Kaa, 2017 was a gorgeous photograph by Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) of her model, Kaa, who comes from a notable pottery family in Santa Clara. The ancestral Pueblo clay designs are overlaid on the nude form, and shows how the spirit of the clay is passed down thousands of years. Everything is tradition, and this show will most assuredly help to keep them all alive.

Another moving piece was Thinking Caps, 1999  by Shelley Niro (Six Nation Turtle clan)- a mixed media installation again showing how the Native arts are passed down from generation to generation. Four sets of images were side by side, each showing a different age of female, with hands from child to old woman surrounding each piece.

Different caps were in front of each one, designed to show the wisdom and growth over time, with the final cap having mirrored parts to reflect you in them. Every piece in this show would make me stop and think, and I probably need to return to process it all. This land is our land, but we took it from them, and the show bears both that heaviness, but also the light that comes from beauty, art and tradition.

One of my favorites was Nahookosji Hai (Winter In The North), 2018 by DY. Begay, (Navajo). It is a painting on textile of Lake Superior in Grand Portage, MN. It invokes the same sense of calm that I've always felt gazing at that Great Lake, with the serenity coming this time from wool, natural dyes and Begay's talent.

Another real favorite was the show stopping painting that serves as the model for the exhibit's promotional materials. The Wisdom Of The Universe, 2014 by Christi Belcourt (Michif) is so beautiful you truly gasp. It depicts the plants and animals that are endangered or extinct in Canada, and is meant to display gratitude for the natural world. It's something special huge ...

... and then you zoom in on the detail and it looks like it almost could be another exquisitely beaded piece (of a hummingbird!), but it's acrylics! I loved it so much.

As much as you were entranced by the beauty of everything, you are also learning a great deal during your walk through this exceptional undertaking. For example, I didn't know that "Bone China" was really Buffalo Bone China, 1997 by Dana Claxton (Lahkota) as buffalo bones were valued by Europeans for their quality and durability, reducing the buffalo population from thousands to a few hundred. For tea cups. Wild buffalo run by on a video installed over a pile of broken china pieces. Ouch.

... the sky is darkening ..., 2018 by Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) is a remembrance of the passenger pigeons that were hunted to extinction, and this is Rickard's celebration of their song through her bead work. It is yet another gorgeous, but deeply thought provoking piece - as they really ALL are.

Like for sure Sunshine On A Cannibal, 2015 by Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe) which portrays the cultural cannibalism that our Western society always does ... objectify, consume, assimilate, erase ... and this piece asks us to stop and think about how our culture consumes others. Complete with a trigger warning.

Another piece that brings into focus that cultural cannibalism is Childhood, 2013 by Lou-Ann Neel (Kwakwaka'wakw). It is a photo mosaic made up of hundreds of photos of kids taken from their homes and put into boarding schools to try to erase their Native ways. This happened all over the country, and remains an outrage.

I was hired to write a script about this once, but it was for a horror film, and I thought the fact that they were ripped from their homes, made to cut their hair and not speak their native languages, etc ... was horror enough. All of these little faces making up the image of Neel's nephew in traditional costume is impressive, and once again very weighted. As it should be.

Another outrage is depicted in December 5, 2016: No Spiritual Surrender, 2016 by Zoe Urness (Tlingit), a digital photograph that portrays the pride and defiance of the Standing Rock standoff a few years back that remains as yet another blight on our nation's troubled recent history - and past.

And if we're talking about outrages - and we are - you can't forget The Garden, 2017 by Julie Buffalohead ((Ponca). It reminds us of when the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden thought it would be a good idea a few years back to include a piece of a gallows (Scaffold) where 40 Native men were hanged in 1862. People were obviously horrified, and the offending piece was removed. Buffalohead's work shows a wolf carrying off the Sculpture Garden's blue rooster in it mouth, "Revealing the ignorance and vanity of the predominantly white art world and its incompatibility with the Native peoples' lived experiences." - according to the title card. Burn.

Another personal favorite of mine was also called Childhood, 2004 by C. Maxx Stevens (Seminole/Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma), who suffers from memory loss. Family members trigger her memory with objects like a childhood dress - here hung with a light inside and a crow on the outside, for her protection. The unfinished quality is meant to illustrate the fragility of memory ... and this one made me cry again.

The Hide cradleboard, c.1890 by a Kiowa artist was beaded to honor new life, and again shows why Native culture is so beautiful with its symbolism and reverence for nature, family, and tradition. Every single item in this show holds nations inside of it, and the memories that keep them alive, I can't say enough good about it.

A beaded Woman's parka (tuilli), c. 1900 (Inuit) was stunning, and also functional, as they were made from caribou hide and used in the whaling harbors of Canada. They were often passed down from mother to daughter, and were treasured possessions. Of course, look at it!

Another heavy - maybe the most heavy - piece was Fringe, 2007 by Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe). This work addresses the violence toward Native women that is sadly not uncommon. The figure is in a traditional European painting pose, but her deep scar shows the trauma for Native people ... and is then sewn up with beads, portraying their resilience, strength, and ultimate survival. Wow.

I loved Women's Voices at the Council, 1990, by Joan Hill (Muskogee Creek and Cherokee), and shows the power that women hold to decide between war and peace. This piece is particularly powerful now, as we as a country attempt to navigate equal rights and less war, along with a renewed respect for women - we hope.

Women from all nations love their shoes, as the intricately beaded moccasins shown off in this exhibit clearly show, but perhaps none more than this stunning pair of Christian Louboutins, Adaptation, II, 2012 zhuzzed up in beaded and feathered Native style by Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock) that I deeply covet.
 

How could It's In Our DNA, It's Who We Are, 2018 by Anita Fields (Osage) not be one of my favorites? The brightly colored military coat is after those that were given to Osage men by U.S. government officials, but they were too small for them, so the women took to adorning them and wearing them for special ceremonies. Fields took this excellent one a step further by sewing treaties and photographs into its lining ... and adding a top hat that isn't explained. I loved it.

I loved every piece in Hearts of Our People, in fact. It is groundbreaking, it is exquisite, it is moving, it is beautiful, and it is important.  Important because it asks us to celebrate Native women and their art, but also to remember. To remember where and who we came from, and also to remember who we want to be. A poem hanging near the final works called Remember by Joy Harjo (Muscogee/Cherokee) really summed the entire show up for me. I'll leave you here with it, and urge you to visit this magnificent exhibit at MIA at least once during its duration.

Hearts of Our People 
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Now through August 18th, 2019

Thank you to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Minneapolis Institute of Art for bringing this must see show to Minneapolis for all to enjoy and learn from. It is a tour de force.