Argo, 2017

Immersive multi-media sculpture, collaboration with artists Marian Ochoa and Kirsten Walsh. Commissioned by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA) for the Light City Festival, Baltimore MD. Sited at the Baltimore Inner Harbor in front of the Maryland Science Center.

Wood, LED lights, video projection. Dimensions: 55’ x 22’ x 11’.

The massive scale of Argo invites people to enter the piece, passing through each of the rib structures as the video and LED lights tell the tale of threats to water health and quality in the Chesapeake Bay. The physical form of the work is based on an inverted hull, resembling “Argos”, the ship in the inspirational myth Jason and the Golden Fleece. The narrative of the video approximates the hero’s journey. Similar to the challenges Jason faced in order to accomplish his mission, the themes of the video are: the power and beauty of water, industrial pollution, storm water runoff and agricultural water use. Projected on both sides of the exterior, the video presented viewers with the regions’ changing water systems while the interior is alive with a changing LED light sequence.

Argo included a performance night featuring artists, poets, musicians, and storytellers, as well as educational workshops at the Maryland Science Center

Artist Valeska Populoh appearing as Riparia, a protector spirit of the tidewater. Riparia sat within the structure of Argo while performing divinatory readings on hand-made cards and maps to tell festival goers the ecological fortunes of the Chesapeake Bay.

Light City Festival Video & Lights

People got a thrill passing through the ribs of the sculpture and watching as the video unfolded along with the shifts in the interior LED lights

short excerpt of the video projected on the outside of Argo

Previous
Previous

Percolare

Next
Next

Jewels of the River