Stunning Art About Emotional Trauma In Alaska
On the Alaskan Coast, a Crowd of Human Casts Captures Our Emotional Trauma
Sixty-eight life-sized sculptures of humans — some peering towards the sky, some shrouded with downcast eyes — currently stand along the snow-covered coastline of Anchorage, Alaska. Each is cast from someone affected by emotional trauma, whether from occasions of abuse, chronic or mental illnesses, depression, experiences in the military, or other severe life circumstances. The sprawling installation is the outcome of 100 Stone, a lengthy and collaborative creative undertaking to engage with such people all across the state and give their collective stories a visual presence (as its title implies, the project initially aimed to display 100 statues). Last weekend, nearly 1,000 participants, their families, and friends, met at Point Woronzof Overlook Park — near Ted Stevens International Airport — to commemorate the works, representing the network that formed and grew over the past two years in support of this particular community.
“Ultimately, this is a suicide awareness project, a creative project for people who experience acute and persistent vulnerabilities,” project lead Sarah Davies told Hyperallergic. “I’m hoping that a transformation happens — of our attitudes and approaches towards people who are particularly vulnerable.”
The endeavor began two summers ago, when Davies drove about 2,100 miles along the state’s central road system with a U-Haul van and a trailer full of cast-making material, stopping at local agencies and organizations to which she had previously reached out to meet people wrestling with personal traumas. Funding from organizations including ArtPlace America and Alaska’s Mat Su Health Foundation also enabled her to fly into more distant, rural areas. At each site, she and local volunteers created plaster-covered burlap casts of interested participants, listening to the stories of those willing to share them.
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http://hyperallergic.com/260041/on-the-alaskan-coast-a-crowd-of-human-casts-captures-our-emotional-trauma/
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