‘Cyclone’ is a life-scale sculpture comprised of cat’s claw vine. This vine can be seen climbing walls, tearing into roofs, and compromising structures throughout the South. The material can only be manipulated fully while alive; a three day shelf life. Discovering that the vine retains its form throughout the trials Nature puts her through explores ways to transform destructive energy into positive use. Universally drawing a connection, paralleling Nature’s changing climate. She reminds us of the power of Nature, poignantly placed where the city of New Orleans developed at its early formation. She resides at the site of the Washington Artillery Park, aloft the cannon, which itself is being contested by the organization, Take ‘Em Down Nola. Cyclone, is on view in the French Quarter, larger than life, through the 4th Wall app.
From the Curator:
Battlegrounds is a city-wide, site-specific, augmented reality (AR) public art activation in New Orleans, which interprets the word “Battleground” as broadly as possible.
The curator has geo-located 30 thematically related artworks in AR created by 24 local artists at the contested locations of their choosing. These sites include polluted waterways, confederate statues, gentrified lands, levees, prisons, neglected neighborhoods, slave trade sites, formerly indigenous territories – to name just a few. Battlegrounds offers a new type of subversive public art which asks no permission, but attempts to prompt thoughtful discourse around the most urgent issues the artwork and sites represent for the larger community they serve. This is an unapologetically political project, and does no environmental harm in a region of the country which is most vulnerable to climate change. Community programming and workshops are essential to this project.
ExhibitionBattlegroundsVenue4th Wall / New OrleansCuratorNancy Baker CahillYear2019Linkwww.4thwallapp.org
