Wallach's 'The Way We Remember' Exhibition Explores Memory And Art's Ability To Represent The Past

Upper West Side NY

16 September, 2021

11:25 AM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY BELLA DRUCKMAN SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 On Sept. 11, 2001, Fritz Koenig's Great Caryatid Sphere stood out against the rubble as a reminder that New York City, even when threatened, still stands. From its completion in 1972 to its survival past the collapse of the twin towers, the Sphere was the backdrop of lunch breaks, family photos, and proposals. The Sphere became a memorial out of chance. Holger A. Klein, Lisa Selz, and Bernard Selz, curators of the Wallach Art Gallery's new exhibit "The Way We Remember," strove to explain the ways in which humans commemorate those who have lost their lives. The exhibit examines the Sphere, as a sculpture whose meaning has shifted with time, as well as Columbia's position as a "place of memory" along with its monuments and memorials. The final aspect of the exhibition displays the work of five artists tasked with creating a memorial for those who have died of COVID-19. The exhibit will be on display until Nov. 14. Koenig built the Sphere in his home and studio in Gansberg, Germany. The sculpture—a bronze structure resembling a helmet with a cyclops eye—inspired fear in some who passed it. Others saw it as a symbol of hope. "The way the sphere is lifted off the ground bears resemblance to a sprouting seed that breaks through the earth, making visible at once the strength of its support and the heaviness of the vital load it carries," a plaque at the exhibit read. As the sculpture stood amid the rubble at Ground Zero, it reminded the world of New York City's resilience and soon acted as a temporary memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attack. Despite Koenig's intention to build the sculpture as a centerpiece for the World Trade Center Plaza, the sculpture took on a different meaning. "This Sphere ends up being kind of like this memorial … by virtue of it surviving when it started off as a public art piece," Lewis Long, associate director for external affairs at the Wallach Art Gallery, said. "Whenever you think of monuments and memorials, public art pieces tend to take on different meanings, even from what they were initially developed for." The curators looked to examine other forms of memorials alongside the Sphere. Within the confines of Columbia, students and professors act to create a collective memory. As memorials, protests, and celebrations occur within campus gates, memories pass between generations of students and gain deeper meaning with time. "Everyone knows about Hamilton's legacy with Columbia … but they also don't know about his legacy of being a person that owned slaves, enslaved people. Similarly, with Thomas Jefferson," Long said. "And then you also have the Alma Mater statue, which was also placed in front of the library, and over time, it has not just become a symbol of the University, but it's been a site of protest." As Columbia's memorials and monuments continue to adapt new meanings with time, the curators wondered how the public would remember the loss associated with COVID-19. They asked, "How do we begin to visualize the enormous loss in human lives?" and "Can artists' responses to previous traumatic events such as the First and Second World Wars, the horrors of the Holocaust, or the events of 9/11 provide us with viable models?" They posed these questions to artists within the Columbia community, as well as the Harlem and Morningside Heights communities. "We're living in a moment that is fraught with things that we want to also remember and recognize—mainly people that have died as a result of COVID and the pandemic," Long said. "In many cases, people couldn't be with their loved ones [when] they passed away. They couldn't pursue the traditional funeral, rituals, and ceremonies. And so that section deals with contemporary artists developing what might be conceptually, monuments and memorials," Long said. Dianne Smith, a Harlem-based artist, visualized an exhibit at the intersection of monuments, memorials, and altars. Her sacred meditative space contrasts the LED lights and images of flowers present in Chicago-based artist Delano Dunn's exploration of racial identity and perception in COVID-19 loss. Harlem-based artist Cathleen Campbell's concept has three stages. The first involves pairing photographs of those who have passed with images of things that invoke their personality. The second and third phases will connect the exhibit to future residents. Native New Yorker Jonathan Calm aims to create a monument that combines three brownstones and includes the names of those who have died of COVID-19 in Morningside Heights and Harlem along with a reflecting pool. Nyssa Chow's vision includes quotes from those who have passed that are revealed by the heat of human touch. As these artists attempt to honor the hundreds of thousands who have lost their lives due to COVID-19, the world moves into a new period of mourning. Although these artists scraped the surface of the responses society has to COVID-19, so many more will attempt to memorialize the tremendous loss of life that has characterized the beginning of the 2020s. Deputy Editor Bella Druckman can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @bella_druckman. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.