Rebecca Locke

this is worth fighting for, 2015
NYC soil, water, bucket, spade, leaves

The site-specific installation made for the Graft Art exhibition apARTment #2 uses soil as its primary material, and in so doing explores its significance. We imagine soil as limitless, as plentiful as grains of sand on the beach, yet it is finite and vital. Consistent with the artist's practice, the construction of the site-specific workincluded an element of performance, or action. Oglala poet Kim Snyder planted 'flags' in the installation's castles -- flags made from leaves. Snyder's recently published poem Who is Tiger Lily? laments the loss of the land, and the displacement of people.

Furthermore, the title of the installation this is worth fighting for refers to the defensive purpose of castles and fortresses, but made from earth and leaves, and constructed in a back garden, open to the elements, the sun and the rain, the work is fleeting, vulnerable and changeable in nature. In this context it references the ever-changing, uncertain and delicate eco-system of the world in which we live.

Reading list:

Graft Art, The Curator, 2015

Who is Tiger Lily? Kim Snyder, Four Winds Magazine, 2015