Closing reception at McColl Center for Visual Art, residents of Statesville Avenue Corridor, experiencing a Happening in the ArtVee

Updates
Oh what a night . . . Artists Samantha Hill and J McDonald activated the ArtVee, the adaptable mobile sculpture that he built. He developed the concept of the ArtVee while conducting an inquiry into how to facilitate the first ecological intervention at Brightwalk. The ArtVee is a model of reuse, reclamation, sustainability and the mixing of the old and the new. It manifests the reality happening at Brightwalk. Decked out with solar panels; a water catchment system to harvest rainwater; edible native plants; and an interior that allows for gathering, reflection and exhibition, the ArtVee is a place designed to create place. J stated about the ArtVee, “Like an invasive weed, this new world is taking over, but there are still glimpses of a native beauty of forms and materials that look only like themselves, whose storied skins speak viscerally and intimately to us.”

At the same time, Samantha was leading another inquiry by collecting the stories of the residents and community leaders who comprise the rich, cultural history of the Statesville Avenue Corridor. Her "Reflections in the Moment" depict her experience with Darryl (a Double Oaks community leader) and the temporary installation was housed within McDonald’s ArtVee.

More than 200 visitors entered the ArtVee to see a newly activated place, furnished with salvaged materials and sharing the memories stories of an elder in the community. The intervention was a whole-body sensory experience, and included the sounds, sights and smells of an era. ArtVee transported the visitors to a shared place and time.

Closing reception at McColl Center for Visual Art and the activated ArtVee on the front lawn of the Center

Recent Wins
The Brightwalk EAIR project continues to evolve. Artists have been selected and proposals are being vetted for feasibility. The winter 2014 residency session will welcome artists from around the world.

Insight/Provocation
Interdependency is defined as relying on mutual assistance or unable to survive without each other. J McDonald and Samantha Hill demonstrated the complex nature of ecosystem interdependencies, how each element of a community relies on another for survival. The environmental story is not separate from the human story; together they form a complex system, where all elements are dependent upon each other for their survival.