'studio without walls' outdoor sculpture show
featuring 20 sculptors
in riverway park (adjacent to the longwood MBTA stop)
brookline, ma
may 28 - september 4, 2022
TITLE: Blossoms of a Thousand Deaths: Remembering the Victims of Genocide (see images below)
DIMENSIONS: 72"L x 72" W x 24" H
MATERIALS: Steel plate, square and round rod; artificial flowers; soil; cast hands
When we consider The Ground We Walk (the theme for this year's show), we generally think about the lifegiving sustenance we receive from rich, verdant soil that nourishes trees, insects, and animals. Focus only on these life-sustaining qualities, and you will miss a more sinister aspect: soil as the repository of the ‘grim cemeteries of unmarked graves.’ Buried beneath soil lie scattered the victims of genocide-considered unworthy, unjust, unwanted, unsavory.
Here is a list of some acts of genocide-let’s say their names: American Slavery (1619-1865); Indigenous Peoples living in the USA (1619-2000); Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945); Holocaust against the Jews (1941-45); Cambodians (1975-79); Bataan Death March (1942); Rwandans (1994); Armenians (1915-22); Ugandans (1972-78); Difurans (2003-20); Guatemalans (1962-96); Australian Aborigines (1840-97); Myanmar Rohingyas (2017-22); Bosnians (1992-95); Ethiopian Tigray (2019-22); Ukraine (2022)
The installation titled Blossoms of a Thousand Deaths remembers the lives of these victims of genocide by retrieving their memories from the soil that covers them. Genocide has always been a part of the human condition. The paradigm for genocide was established by the earliest biblical stories-consider the stories of The Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. As the sculptor Karyn Olivier states ‘Soil holds history and holds loss and holds pain.’ The soil on which we nonchalantly tread each day holds the memories of the disenfranchised and the dispossessed, the helpless and the hopeless. Remembering and reclaiming is the sacred obligation of us, the living.
The poem (see below) After the Survivors Are Gone by Peter Balakian was incorporated into this sculptural installation.
DEDICATED TO:
Raphael Lemkin-for naming and focusing the world’s attention on the horrors of genocide
Samantha Power-for pleading with world leaders to respond to genocide
Toshinori Kanaya-for teaching me about the atomic bomb and forgiveness
Poem: After the Survivors Are Gone
Poet: Peter Balakian
I tried to imagine the Vilna ghetto,
To see a persimmon tree after the flash at Nagasaki,
Because my own tree had been hacked.
I tried to kiss the lips of Armenia at the table and the altar.
We said some words written ages ago.
Have we settled for just the wine and bread, for candles lit and snuffed?
Let us remember how the law has failed us.
Let us remember the child, naked, waiting to be shot on a bright day, with tulips blooming around the ditch.
We shall not forget the earth, the artifact, the particular song, the dirt of an idiom.
Things that stick in the ear.
DIMENSIONS: 72"L x 72" W x 24" H
MATERIALS: Steel plate, square and round rod; artificial flowers; soil; cast hands
When we consider The Ground We Walk (the theme for this year's show), we generally think about the lifegiving sustenance we receive from rich, verdant soil that nourishes trees, insects, and animals. Focus only on these life-sustaining qualities, and you will miss a more sinister aspect: soil as the repository of the ‘grim cemeteries of unmarked graves.’ Buried beneath soil lie scattered the victims of genocide-considered unworthy, unjust, unwanted, unsavory.
Here is a list of some acts of genocide-let’s say their names: American Slavery (1619-1865); Indigenous Peoples living in the USA (1619-2000); Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945); Holocaust against the Jews (1941-45); Cambodians (1975-79); Bataan Death March (1942); Rwandans (1994); Armenians (1915-22); Ugandans (1972-78); Difurans (2003-20); Guatemalans (1962-96); Australian Aborigines (1840-97); Myanmar Rohingyas (2017-22); Bosnians (1992-95); Ethiopian Tigray (2019-22); Ukraine (2022)
The installation titled Blossoms of a Thousand Deaths remembers the lives of these victims of genocide by retrieving their memories from the soil that covers them. Genocide has always been a part of the human condition. The paradigm for genocide was established by the earliest biblical stories-consider the stories of The Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. As the sculptor Karyn Olivier states ‘Soil holds history and holds loss and holds pain.’ The soil on which we nonchalantly tread each day holds the memories of the disenfranchised and the dispossessed, the helpless and the hopeless. Remembering and reclaiming is the sacred obligation of us, the living.
The poem (see below) After the Survivors Are Gone by Peter Balakian was incorporated into this sculptural installation.
DEDICATED TO:
Raphael Lemkin-for naming and focusing the world’s attention on the horrors of genocide
Samantha Power-for pleading with world leaders to respond to genocide
Toshinori Kanaya-for teaching me about the atomic bomb and forgiveness
Poem: After the Survivors Are Gone
Poet: Peter Balakian
I tried to imagine the Vilna ghetto,
To see a persimmon tree after the flash at Nagasaki,
Because my own tree had been hacked.
I tried to kiss the lips of Armenia at the table and the altar.
We said some words written ages ago.
Have we settled for just the wine and bread, for candles lit and snuffed?
Let us remember how the law has failed us.
Let us remember the child, naked, waiting to be shot on a bright day, with tulips blooming around the ditch.
We shall not forget the earth, the artifact, the particular song, the dirt of an idiom.
Things that stick in the ear.
a sculptural memorial to the victims of genocide completed in FEBRUARY 2022
After eights months of work, beginning in May 2021, Allen completed his sculpture TREE OF A THOUSAND DEATHS: MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE. The sculpture is made of steel, mahogany and 52 plaster-cast hands. Fifty-two different people, young and old, offered to have their hand cast as part of this piece. Each hand was rubbed with soil and sprayed with a clear acylic spray. See below for photos and the description of the sculpture.
DIMENSIONS: 138” H x 130” W x 108” D
MATERIALS: Steel plate and square pipe: mahogany; reinforced plaster; soil; steel cable, threaded rod, and assorted hardware
Dedicated to: Raphael Lemkin-for focusing the world’s attention on the horrors of genocide
Samantha Power-for pleading with world leaders to respond to genocide
Toshinori Kanaya-for teaching me about the atomic bomb and forgiveness
Genocide has always been a part of the human condition. The paradigm for genocide was established by the earliest biblical stories. Consider the stories of The Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. Each of these tales describe a genocide perpetrated by a God against humanity, cleansing the world of the unworthy, the unjust, the unwanted, the unsavory.
Most acts of genocide have been tolerated or ignored by countries unaffected by the heinous acts of violence, torture, and death. How does any country claim moral authority when it ignores and tolerates genocide anywhere in the world? Or fails to own up fully to the genocide perpetrated by its own citizens and military? Or blames the victims of genocide for what happened to them? Or remains silent when genocide is committed by its allies?
Here is a list of some acts of genocide-let’s say their names: The Holocaust against the Jews (1941-45); American Slavery (1619-1865); Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945); Indigenous Peoples in North America, South America, and the Caribbean Islands (1492-2022); Ethnic Poles in World War II (1939-45); Cambodia (1975-79); Rwanda (1994); Armenia (1915-22); Romani (1935-45); Uganda (1972-78); Chechens (1944-48); Darfur (2003-20); Guatemala (1962-96); Australian and New Zealand Aborigines (1840-97); Myanmar Rohingyas (2017-22); Bosnia (1992-95); Ethiopian Tigray (2019-22); Yemenis (2015-22); Sackler Family and Oxycodone (2010-2022)
Tree of a Thousand Deaths honors the memory of victims of genocide by retrieving their noble lives from the soil that covers them. The life-giving sustenance we receive from trees hides a more sinister aspect: the soil that nourishes these trees is also a repository of ‘grim cemeteries of unmarked graves’ which holds the memories of the disenfranchised and the dispossessed, the helpless and the hopeless. Remembering and reclaiming is the sacred obligation of us, the living. As the sculptor, Karyn Olivier, tells us ‘Soil holds history and holds loss and holds pain.’
DIMENSIONS: 138” H x 130” W x 108” D
MATERIALS: Steel plate and square pipe: mahogany; reinforced plaster; soil; steel cable, threaded rod, and assorted hardware
Dedicated to: Raphael Lemkin-for focusing the world’s attention on the horrors of genocide
Samantha Power-for pleading with world leaders to respond to genocide
Toshinori Kanaya-for teaching me about the atomic bomb and forgiveness
Genocide has always been a part of the human condition. The paradigm for genocide was established by the earliest biblical stories. Consider the stories of The Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. Each of these tales describe a genocide perpetrated by a God against humanity, cleansing the world of the unworthy, the unjust, the unwanted, the unsavory.
Most acts of genocide have been tolerated or ignored by countries unaffected by the heinous acts of violence, torture, and death. How does any country claim moral authority when it ignores and tolerates genocide anywhere in the world? Or fails to own up fully to the genocide perpetrated by its own citizens and military? Or blames the victims of genocide for what happened to them? Or remains silent when genocide is committed by its allies?
Here is a list of some acts of genocide-let’s say their names: The Holocaust against the Jews (1941-45); American Slavery (1619-1865); Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945); Indigenous Peoples in North America, South America, and the Caribbean Islands (1492-2022); Ethnic Poles in World War II (1939-45); Cambodia (1975-79); Rwanda (1994); Armenia (1915-22); Romani (1935-45); Uganda (1972-78); Chechens (1944-48); Darfur (2003-20); Guatemala (1962-96); Australian and New Zealand Aborigines (1840-97); Myanmar Rohingyas (2017-22); Bosnia (1992-95); Ethiopian Tigray (2019-22); Yemenis (2015-22); Sackler Family and Oxycodone (2010-2022)
Tree of a Thousand Deaths honors the memory of victims of genocide by retrieving their noble lives from the soil that covers them. The life-giving sustenance we receive from trees hides a more sinister aspect: the soil that nourishes these trees is also a repository of ‘grim cemeteries of unmarked graves’ which holds the memories of the disenfranchised and the dispossessed, the helpless and the hopeless. Remembering and reclaiming is the sacred obligation of us, the living. As the sculptor, Karyn Olivier, tells us ‘Soil holds history and holds loss and holds pain.’
|
|
Allen Spivack featured in a Hebrew College newsletter
on student creativity in the arts
Hebrew College, located in Newton, MA, featured the creativity of its students in a recent edition of its weekly newsletter (May 27, 2021). As a student of the Meah program (one of its educational programs for adult learners), Allen has used Meah as a way to learn about Jewish history and philosophy as well as to (unexpectedly) find inspiration for several of his sculptures. Read the full article at: how-meah-unexpectedly-informed-my-artwork
Installing monument to lost gloves installed at the mount-edith wharton homestead in lenox, ma in june 2021 at the sculpture now! show
Allen Spivack and Lev Natan complete the installation of Monument for Lost Gloves
The Orchard:Trees in the Garden of Eden
Tree of Truth
|
Tree of Souls
Tree of Secrets
|
VIDEO ABOUT ALLEN'S artistic JOURNEY AND HIS SCULPTUREs
(3 1/2 minutes)
Telling Stories In Steel & Found Objects
"When my ideas become sculpture, I can never be certain how the viewer will experience the work. Art is full of subtlety and metaphor."
"When my ideas become sculpture, I can never be certain how the viewer will experience the work. Art is full of subtlety and metaphor."
