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DROP

location:
Centennial Olympic Park, the Memorial Quilt, solo exhibition
date:
09/20 - 11/30
material:
cotton balls from the green ball developed till the open cotton ball, fluorescent green, pinkt, red and yellow gafferstape
photographer:
Anya Liftig
video:
Cecilia Kane
documentation:
exhibition at the Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta

"Drop" is an installation/performance at the Olympic Centennial Park, Atlanta shortly after the attack at the World Trade Center, in Washington and Pittsburg happened.

I was invited as an artist in residence at the Contemporary Art center, Altanta for a project in public space.
The history of the Southern part of the West coast, in earlier times based on the cotton farms and the relation of this modern, international oriented business center Atlanta was the most interesting contrast I wanted to work on.
As I got to know, the cotton industry, which was the most important business factor in this region, which made it rich in earlier times, has nearly disappeared.
I wanted this factor cotton bring back into the metropole Atlanta and counterpart it towards the todays life in this city.
So I went to the country side and collected together with a farmer cotton balls, which where in this time still in the green and closed phase of their growing. While I had the cotton balls, wrapped into fluorescent tape, so they became little sculptures, they opened up more and more during the following week.

11th of September the attacks in America happened in NYC, Washington and Pittsburg happened. After this day nothing could be the same as before. I did not koe how to continue my art work. The installation developed itself. The cotton sculptures looked very much as little bombs, the history of Atlanta related since the bomb attack during the Olympic games very much towards the history which had happened now. At the day of the attack all skyscrapers in Atlanta where evacuated.
So I choose the Centennial Olympic Park as the location of my installation/performance, where the two ladies where killed by a bomb during the Olympic games in Atlanta.

I build the installation coming from the center of the memorial quilt more and more centralising towards the meadow in the center of the park.
I choose fluorescent red gafferstape lines which are narrowing towards each other till 2 inch at the meadow rim. The cotton sculptures are more and more opening up towards the green and counting each tape line one more sculpture.
At the concentration point diectly at the green I spread out fully open cotton balls in a circle on the green.

The whole installation developed into a "hope - sculpture", which is an exploding cotton sculpture away from the bombing location into the green. And it unites the historical part and the contemporary business oriented character of Atlanta.