January 2011 I traveled to Bisbee, AZ as a visiting artist. I stayed for three weeks, created a site specific installation, befriended many great artists and fully inhaled the Bisbee creative energy. Here is a brief record of the journey.
Jan. 3, 2011
Husband and I drove to
Naco, a neighboring town which borders Mexico. I had intention to build an installation related to border issues before I arrived. However, the tall dark fence running all the way up the majestic mountain crushed my inspiration.
Dark energy looming around here, cried out as
innocent lives wasted. As an immigrant myself, this is an arrow aiming at my chest. Chimneys from "the other side" emitted smoke to keep January cold at bay; symbols of warm and cozy homes turned into a picture of
West Bank.
Heavy border police force is an odd image in this beautiful landscape. Mountain ranges become a little angry voice in comparison to human division.
On the way back to Bisbee, we discovered Bisbee food co-op, that was a surprising joy!
Next to the food co-op sits the (in)famous
Lavender Pit, one of the open pit mines that made
Bisbee one of the largest towns between San Francisco and New Orleans in early days.
Mining industries bring about complicated political atmosphere, especially when they leave earth a huge hole that oozes liquids. It is as devastated to the local ecology as magnificent aesthetically. Have I not know this pit is man-made, I'd assume mother nature created another marvelous landscape. It is beautiful with alluring charms: the muscle of the slops, the scales, the colors of the minerals that floats and it's response to sunlight.
I decided at the moment, I would like to attempt creating a pit on my own, one that reflects the colors and history without ecological price to pay.
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