Storefronts of Seattle

 

 

On Thursday, September 20^th, our class visited the storefronts of Seattle.  In all we visited three sites.

Installation #1:

Artist:  Gregg Schlanger, Basic Water Requirements

Location:  505 5^th Avenue South, Seattle – VULCAN, Inc .

Site:  #4 on the storefronts of Seattle map

When first arriving at the window front one sees a lineup of glass jugs, some containing a substance, and others not so much.  The substance is a necessity – water.  Upon further observation, one begins to learn what the artist is sharing with his audience.

Each jug represents a country.  It is properly labeled with the country name, a cutout outlining the shape of the country, and then a number sharing the number of liters of the basic water requirements for that country.

The jugs were displayed in a row and in order from least to greatest, left to right.  Somalia was one of the countries that had the least and Canada had the greatest.  The scale went from zero to 818 liters.

The artist draws your attention and puts things into perspective.  With the daily water requirement being fifty liters, some countries have less than a liter available.  The struggles faced by these countries that have a limited water supply, face a major water shortage leaving them unable to grow food and provide water for drinking.  The sad outcome can be death for the residents.

The display which is located in a real estate building does mirror the display.  Considering the ability to buy a small piece of real estate with running water is a luxury.  When thinking of the big picture, some countries do not have enough water to serve their people.  Countries such as Canada and the United States should be thankful not only for the opportunity to own their small piece of the world but to have adequate water available.

 

Installation #2:

Artist:  Paul D. Mckee

Location:  411 Maynard Avenue South, Seattle – SCIDPDA

Site:  #6 on the storefronts of Seattle map

For this display, I am unable to connect the artists’ work to the location.  The site to work did not relate in any fashion being it was displayed in the Asian community.  The only consideration may be that some people’s homosexuality or ones ethnicity is not always accepted.

This display depicts controversy.  There were two pieces each containing a mounted head of a person.  They were mounted like a trophy deer one would see displayed by a hunter.  Each head had antlers and ears like a deer. 

Surrounding one head is a swarm of bees that gradually lead over to the second head.

Until I read the display description, I had a hard time interpreting the work.  What I learned was that Paul Mckee is a gay artist whose sexuality was not accepted in his home life growing up.

I feel that I was unable to further interpret was he was trying to show.  Although I liked certain elements of the display, such as the swarming bees, I just could not personally connect and understand the overall context of the display.