Word: constellationã
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...staffers were] talking about delaying…Constellation?? I told my staff we’re going to find an entirely different offset,” Obama said in Aug. 2008. Obama cited Constellation as a specific example of how his administration would be more “pro-science” than Bush, with one campaign press release stating he would, “support the development of this vital [program...
...public art installation entitled “Constellation (Stranger Fruit)” by Sanford Biggers, an African-American sculptor known for his evocative installations. The work represents the struggles of slaves escaping via the Underground Railroad, a theme Biggers recalls in several pieces. “Constellation?? evokes heavenly constellations and quilts marked with secret codes that helped guide slaves to freedom. “There is something magical about this work; the light from below gives the installation a celestial mood...” says Raymond C. Traietti, Assistant Director at Memorial Hall...
...centerpiece of “Constellation??—the tree—alludes to a recurring symbol in Biggers’ work. The artist refers to the tree as a “primordial form” and compares its use in his art to a jazz standard, in that it serves as a basis on which he can expand in different artistic directions. For Biggers, a tree can recall the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. However, while the lush and fully grown tree in “Blossom” exudes vivacity...
...Constellation?? is the piece that most directly addresses the phenomenon of the Underground Railroad. According to the artist, the starkly bare tree and surrounding night sky are meant to reference the experiences slaves had escaping during cold and dark nights. Biggers incorporated the quilt in order to reference the historical controversy over whether coded messages were stitched into blankets by abolitionists. He points out that it is unclear whether the quilts present historically salient evidence of communication or if they have no importance outside of their aesthetic value. “History is largely conjecture. It is guesses...
Biggers explains that “Constellation?? incorporates diverse cultural influences in an attempt to challenge the way individuals examine the history of the Underground Railroad and the field of history as a whole. Biggers uses Rumi’s poetry to this end and finds that it reveals slavery as a global, rather than an individual, issue. “The world has indulged in [slavery] in various forms throughout time,” he says. For Biggers, this is just one instance of how American history should be examined in a larger, international context; more connections...