DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?

For the site-specific intervention and installation, Postcommodity cut a square hole in the gallery floor of the ASU art museum in the Ceramics Research Center exposing the earth beneath the institution, and displaying the block of removed concrete, standing upright, on a pedestal. Both the evacuation and the removed concrete are illuminated with theatrical lighting. The installation also includes a manipulated audio recording of a Pee Posh social dance song performed by the collective, concurrent with a closed-circuit audio broadcast activating the physical gallery space.

The hole and exposed earth of Do You Remember When?, becomes a spiritual, cultural and physical portal – a point of transformation between worlds – from which emerges an Indigenous worldview engaging a discourse on sustainability regionally, nationally and internationally. The block of concrete – the foundation of the university – functions as a trophy celebrating Indigenous intervention in opposition to a Western scientific worldview, honoring Indigenous knowledge of sustainability within a geographic and ecological system. The audio recording provides the psychosocial soundtrack of the transformation process. Collectively, the site-specific work engages the gallery space, the University, and the region in a manner seeking to shift the discourse of sustainability from a focus dominated by science to a balanced approach inclusive of Indigenous knowledge systems.

Do You Remember When?  2009
Site-specific intervention and mixed-media installation (cut concrete, exposed earth, light, sound) 

Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramic Art Research Center
August 28 through November 28, 2009.

Do You Remember When? (front view)

You exposed earth and mounted cut concrete

Do You Remember When? (back view)

concrete slab backside with sound equipment.

Collateral Damage

mounted cut concrete with geographic grid coordinates.

Phoenix Newtimes review of the exhibition

Kade Twist interview on Sea Change Radio cchange.net

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Indigenous People, Sustainability and the Elephant in the Room

The earth beneath the concrete, buildings and infrastructure supporting Arizona State University is part of a larger geographic and ecological system intrinsically tied to the Hohokam people of the past and the Akimel O’Otham and Pee Posh people presently. This institution was constructed on top of the undisclosed secrets of Indigenous knowledge and their cultural identity. As the university has matured and conceived aspirations of establishing itself as the regional center for the advancement of the Western scientific worldview in the 21st Century, it has struggled to appropriately acknowledge the long-standing spiritual, cultural, economic and political connection that the Indigenous people surrounding the University have with this land, historically and contemporarily.

Recently, Arizona State University has committed itself to being at the forefront of sustainability studies – the theoretical, interdisciplinary system of aesthetics born from the Western imagination and the conceptual framework of supply and demand. The university has become an active participant attempting to connect science with industry and policy development to more efficiently commodify the resources of our shared future—which, inevitably, means Indigenous land and natural resources. Unfortunately, regional and national stakeholders have largely failed to meaningfully include Indigenous leaders and perspectives within their discourse of sustainability, putting Indigenous resources at jeopardy. ASU is now working towards a more meaningful dialogue with Indigenous leaders that seek to reverse this shortsighted trend.

Until now, the conversation about sustainability has failed to look beyond the conceptual framework of the Western scientific worldview. It has attempted to solve a problem created by this worldview with solutions generated within the same conceptual framework. In the process, it has contributed to the propagation of a devastating feedback loop (engaging land and resources as commodities). Concurrently, Indigenous leaders have been relegated to the sidelines in this discourse, while offering a conceptual framework beyond this feedback loop. The Akimel O’Otham and Pee Posh, as well as the Cocopah, Quechan, Tohono O’odham, and Yavapai have developed invaluable, holistic systems of knowledge and culture for sustainable living within the region’s geographic and ecological systems. Their meaningful inclusion within the discourse of sustainability is necessary and it offers hope for relevant outcomes away from the solutions of commodification. More importantly, it expands our understanding of Western and Indigenous knowledge in successfully addressing the challenges of sustainability which unite all of us.

Arizona State University Art Museum Ceramics Research Center’s institutional support for Do You Remember When?, imparts an important message about the art, culture and politics surrounding sustainability and the spirit of collaboration between Western and Indigenous cultures. Our hope is that the installation and intervention will positively impact the discourse of sustainability across regional, national and international borders.

WORK

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CONTACT

work order for excavation

Poem written for Do You Remember When  by Simon Ortiz