Bumbershoot

Marcie Sillman
09/03/2004

Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer…in Seattle. It’s also time for the city’s biggest arts celebration. This year is the 34th Annual Bumbershoot Festival. Visitors can take in big name bands. But Bumbershoot is about more than pop music. You can see theater and dance, and hear great writers reading from their work. Tucked off in the corner of Seattle center, you’ll find a half dozen visual art exhibits. KUOW’s Marcie Sillman visited one of the artists earlier this week. She has this report.

ARTIST JODY ROCKWELL STANDS INSIDE WHAT LOOKS LIKE A FURRY WHITE IGLOO, METHODICALLY OPENING ONE FIFTY-POUND SACK OF SALT AFTER ANOTHER AND POURING THEIR CONTENTS ONTO THE FLOOR.

EVENTUALLY, ROCKWELL PLANS TO UNLOAD CLOSE TO FIVE TONS OF WHITE SALT. IT PROVIDES A COUNTERPOINT TO A GLOBE THREE FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE, THAT’S SUSPENDED FROM THE TOP OF THE IGLOO IN A BLACK ROPE NET. DEEP MAROON-COLORED DROPLETS WEEP FROM THE GLOBE AND FLECK THE MOUNDED SALT HILLS BELOW.

ROCKWELL: “This is 850 pounds of beet stained water, frozen. In a, it was in a buoy. I used the mold of a buoy from the fishing industry.”

ROCKWELL FILLED THE BUOY MOLD WITH 200 POUNDS OF COOKED BEETS, REDUCED INTO A DARK LIQUID. SHE THEN FROZE IT AT CITY ICE COLD STORAGE, A FACILITY MORE TYPICALLY USED TO DEEP FREEZE FRESHLY CAUGHT FISH.

ROCKWELL SAYS SHE CHOOSES TO WORK WITH A MATERIAL BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO FIND OUT HOW IT BEHAVES OR INTERACTS WITH OTHER MATERIALS, AS WELL AS HOW IT CHANGES OVER TIME.

ROCKWELL: “I work with materials because of their natural processes. And when I was at the Great Salt Lake last summer, I saw the pink bacteria stained water. The algae that lives in it is red. And the salt is actually from the Great Salt Lake. It was shipped in from Utah. And I really like beets because they’re so intense. So, I finally get to use them in a really good way.”

ROCKWELL HAS NO IDEA WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE 850 GALLON FROZEN BEET BUOY MELTS. FOR HERE, THAT UNKNOWN ENDPOINT IS AN INTRINSIC PART OF THE ARTWORK: ROCKWELL: “No, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not scientific about it. I don’t want to, I’d rather see it.”

BUMBERSHOOT VISUAL ARTS MANAGER YOKO OTT-DAYTON IS ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE BEET BUOY. OTT-DAYTON SAYS SHE GAVE ROCKWELL FREE REIN TO CREATE A SITE SPECIFIC ARTWORK FOR THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL.

OTT-DAYTON: “Last year I kind of pointed into this room and said I want you to transform that room. And it’s all her from that point.”

ROCKWELL’S ICE AND SALT INSTALLATION IS ONE OF SIX VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS AT THIS YEAR’S BUMBERSHOOT. OTHERS INCLUDE A TRAVELLING EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF APERTURE MAGAZINE, AN AUDIO/VISUAL STREET ART SHOW. YOKO OTT-DAYTON SAYS BUMBERSHOOT GIVES THE VISUAL ARTS PARTICIPANTS A CHANCE TO FLEX THEIR CREATIVE MUSCLES.

OTT-DAYTON: “There are no concerns with trying to sell the body of work. There’s no worries about trying to appeal to gallery owners’ aesthetic. It really is just about supporting the artist to create what they really want.”

FOR ARTIST JODI ROCKWELL, CREATING HER BUMBERSHOOT INSTALLATION IS A CHANCE TO BRING HER ART TO A POTENTIAL AUDIENCE IN THE THOUSANDS.

ROCKWELL: “I hope to reach people who aren’t really that interested in art, who can just see it and appreciate it for understanding the way things are in the world, instead of worrying about what art is.”

ARTIST JODY ROCKWELL’S INSTALLATION WILL BE IN THE ORCAS ROOM AT THE SEATTLE CENTER THROUGHOUT BUMBERSHOOT. SHE EXPECTS AT LEAST A BIT OF THE FROZEN BEET WATER WILL LAST UNTIL MONDAY WHEN THE FESTIVAL CLOSES.

I’M MARCIE SILLMAN, KUOW NEWS.