Exhibitions 2007
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If
Wishes Were Rivers & Dreams Had Wings
Installation through March 20, 2007
If
Wishes Were Rivers & Dreams Had Wings is a site-specific,
participatory installation presented in the atrium of Telfair’s
Jepson Center for the Arts. It is the first major installation in
the Eckburg Atrium and is designed for public interaction.
As
the third in the "If Wishes Were Rivers..." series, this
work combines 7 suspended jars along with a set of large, colorful,
abstract wings rising and fluttering above. Visitors are invited
to write their own prayers, hopes, wishes and magic on strips of
paper and place them in the jars, which are partially filled with
local sand.
The
initial installation in this series was held at the Halsey Gallery
of the College of Charleston, the second at the Smithsonian Institution
Anacostia Museum in Washington, DC. The response to the participatory
format in both venues was overwhelming.
The
work is an exploration into the realm of personalized faith. It
delves into the question of how objects become empowered with the
perceived ability to impact our existence in a desirable way. Working
with a mix of archaic, contemporary, traditional and non-traditional
iconography, the series considers how we might individually and
collectively engage intangible forces to bring about wish fulfillment.
As
a sculptor working primarily in the realm of public art, artist
Jerome Meadows says, “I am intrigued by both the means and
the context in which the artist, the artwork and a range of random
viewers interface. Presenting the installation in a variety of settings
(the criteria being places where a river contributes significantly
to local identity) affords an ever-expanding range of visitor responses.
The similarities and differences in these responses support and
inform the series’ objective of joining the imaginative force
of the artist’s vision with the needs of people from all walks
of life to actualize their inner magic.”
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