Resistance Reverb: Movements 1 & 2

Resistance Reverb: Movements 1 & 2 (2018) is an immersive installation comprised of hundreds of pink tambourines. The tambourine has been played in marches and demonstrations since the mid-twentieth century. The instrument’s egalitarian nature speaks to our shared humanity—anyone can play it, and its history is tied to cultures around the globe. Six hundred tambourines are suspended from the ceiling in a cloud-like formation while others are mirrored and arranged in a circular configuration on the back wall of the gallery. Their pink surfaces evoke the Women’s Marches of January 2017 and moments of feminist activism from the 1980s and 1990s. Dispersed within the cloud of tambourines are fragments of political speeches excerpted from past and present voices of women's resistance--ranging from Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech, "Ain't I a Woman," to Alicia Garza's powerfully succinct message, "Black Lives Matter”. Responding to the topic of solidarity, the installation fuses historic and contemporary expressions of activism into a unified statement of resilience, resistance, and reclamation. The mass of circular forms serve as metaphors for both praise and protest, actions that are performed at gatherings of communities and looked to for empowerment and healing in a climate of upheaval. Taken as a whole, the distinct elements of the installation represent a multiplicity united in solidarity, yet still retaining individual agency: power placed directly in the hands of the people.

Resistance Reverb: Movements 1 & 2 was included in the exhibition, Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times, Part 2, at the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Arts in Napa in 2018. The exhibition featured new art commissions with works from the permanent collection to engage audiences in ideas that matter. Be Not Still, Part 2, also included new projects by Victor Cartagena, Ranu Mukherjee, and Lexa Walsh, each responding to the evolving sociopolitical climate through a topic of their choice. The piece is now a permanently installed in the lobby of HALL Arts Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

Exhibitions:
Resistance Reverb: Movements 1 & 2, HALL Arts Hotel, Dallas, TX
Be Not Still: Living in Uncertain Times, Part 2, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA | Exhibition Brochure | Press Release | Curators: Amy Owen; Kara Q. Smith; Andrea Saenz Williams.