A polar opposite is a tension as well as a geographical anchor. Geographically, the term references the diametrically opposite points of a sphere or antipodal points on planet Earth, and are more commonly understood as the North and South Poles. As an idiom in the English language, it is used to describe people who have opposite opinions or characteristics.
Embodying a sense of solidarity across diverse geographies, the work of Keturah Cummings, Lucinda Dayhew, and Carol Anne McChrystal is connected by thematic commonalities revolving around urgent cultural conversations on feminism, community, and ecology. Together, the work of these three artists explores the literal and metaphorical frameworks of “polar opposites” on local, global, and microcosmal scales.
Changes to the globe’s landscapes and resources are accelerating as humans geo-engineer, extract, terraform, and modify Earth to feed global supply chains. In turn, these modifications mould the entangled and inequitable relationships between the Global North and South.
The relationships between these geographies and their ecologies reveal a global emergency. The three artists included in this exhibition recognize that the social systems under which they live are implicit in this destruction and transformation: the resulting environmental impacts have forever transformed their relationships with nature and one another. The sculptures, videos, sound works, and photographs that emerge from these connections consider the ways in which highly individualist cultures work against pluralist human natures.
The exhibition will be complemented by an artist talk and an online lecture series with various experts and artists, including a performance by the Treecore duo DDLD (( )) LDDD consisting of Dann Disciglio and Lucinda Dayhew, and an interactive work by sound and software artist Ashlin Aronin. The exhibition ends with a finissage — including a performance by Lucinda Dayhew & Dann Disciglio as well as the launch of the magazine “Human Nature”.
