If you happen to walk down University Boulevard on the UA campus as the sun goes down and look up at the trees framing , you will see giant faces peering down at you, smiling, yawning, sleeping, laughing.
Australian artist 鈥榮 鈥淢onuments,鈥 a multimedia exhibit that 蜜柚直播 Arts Live opened on the University of 蜜柚直播 campus last week, reexamines the often exclusive nature of traditional monuments.
Instead of focusing on long-gone historically well known figures, 鈥淢onuments鈥 shines the spotlight on local heroes while they are still alive.
Three of those local heroes joined a group of about 30 people for the opening Thursday, Oct. 29, walking along the moon-lit path in the warm desert night breeze as their images were cast on the trees in front of the 蜜柚直播 State Museum.
People are also reading…
As the eerie green faces loomed from the tangle of leaves, students and passersby stopped in their tracks, mouths gaping. Some crossed the street to get a better view.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a face in the tree!鈥 a young girl cried out, pulling the arm of the girl beside her. 鈥淚ts eye just blinked; its mouth is moving!鈥
The Monuments
A committee of 15 selected 蜜柚直播鈥檚 鈥渕onuments鈥 鈥 Adiba Nelson, Felipe S. Molina and Isabel Garcia 鈥 for Walsh鈥檚 installation, a collaboration between Walsh and , formerly UA Presents.
鈥淚t鈥檚 overwhelming. It鈥檚 surreal,鈥 Nelson said as she stared up into her own towering face staring back at her from a tree. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not anything that a girl from Queens ever dreamed about.鈥
Nelson is a public speaker, author and writer who focuses on inclusivity and accessibility in her work. As a mother of a child with a disability, she works to spread empowerment, fairness and visibility for communities with disabilities. Her children鈥檚 book, 鈥淢eet ClaraBelle Blue,鈥 was inspired by the lack of representation of the disabled community in children鈥檚 literature.
Giddy laughter erupted as the tree-nymph version of Nelson yawned at the crowd. The onlookers were so excited and entranced by the tree-people, it was hard for anyone to take their eyes off the mesmerizing projected portraits.
鈥淚 was just telling my friend I didn鈥檛 know if anyone knew my work, what influence I was having or if what I did was being noticed, but I know it鈥檚 what I鈥檓 here for,鈥 Nelson said. 鈥淎nd then a week later, I got the call from Chad (Herzog, 蜜柚直播 Arts Live executive director).鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 like getting awards,鈥 Garcia said with a playful groan. 鈥淚 quibbled a lot with Chad, I鈥檓 not a monument! The reason I鈥檓 here is because of a sad thing.鈥
A graduate from the UA, Garcia, who earned two degrees, has fought for migrant and civil rights for over 40 years. She co-chairs the 蜜柚直播-based grassroots organization Coalici贸n de Derechos Humanos and helped form No More Deaths.
鈥淚鈥檓 not here because I know how to sing or dance,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little sad and joyful at the same time.鈥
The third monument subject, Molina, is of the Yoeme/Yaqui people. He says he never thought he would see something like live monuments in his lifetime.
Molina has done a lot of bridging work between the Yoeme people and the 蜜柚直播 community, including writing a dictionary of Yoeme-English English-Yoeme translations.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything like this,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna bring my friends by.鈥
The Artist
Walsh, who didn鈥檛 want to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, interviewed around 10 people from 蜜柚直播 and chose Larry Gaurano as his artist assistant for the 蜜柚直播 project. They collaborated remotely so that Walsh could share the tricks of his trade with Gaurano.
鈥淕etting each monument to warm up to the camera was the most difficult part,鈥 Gaurano said. 鈥淚t was fun to meet them, they are such humble people.鈥
蜜柚直播 Arts had already been planning to bring Walsh鈥檚 work to campus pre-pandemic and it turned out to be the perfect event that could still function under COVID-19 guidelines.
Sunday Joyahnah Holland is a University of 蜜柚直播 journalism student apprenticing with the 蜜柚直播.
