SALVAGED

A spark of fire emerges from the friction of two sticks: a fleeting flash of life, quickly subsumed by immutable physical law: heat, death, cold. In the ephemeral moments of life, a spark is a spontaneous moment imbued with the power of fire - its potential can ignite, set aflame, and consume.

Humans and all of their creations, like the spark, come into existence only to fade, guided to silence by the forces of nature. Spirit is the hope that there is some part of every human that can persist beyond the laws of physics, some part that can't be unraveled, broken down, or dragged into the void. Spirit is the dimension we have invented: the indestructibility that protects us from the assumed finality of inevitable physical death. It is our most potent means to avoid dissolution by the external and internal forces of the world.

In the end, we dissolve into the immaterial, however spirit calls us back into life, like a flame rekindled from sticks. The act of remembering is humankind's unique power, it empowers a temporary deity within us. Remembering renders the power to salvage, to save from the wreckage that which is of timeless value.

Before we die, we create a pact with the living, to salvage us from complete death by recalling us from the immaterial void. This contract exists between humankind and all things men and women love: feelings, places, memories, and people.

An artist is specifically trained in the art of salvage, to stave off the forces of entropy, to rescue from loss that which nature mandates to disappear - An artist salvages memories, sparks, time.

A salvage, once performed, is a promise kept. In bearing witness to it, we are reminded and assured that our own memories will be recalled, that our spirits will be kept safe. A salvage ensures that after our passing, our names will continue to be spoken, and so in some sense, that we will persist.

This show honors the artist's commitment to salvage as well as the things she salvages. The show invites viewers to witness an artist's act of salvage, to consider the acts of salvage committed, and to become committed in their own lives to perform similar acts...for the unique ability to salvage is innate in us all.

Elbers_Wishing I Could Wrap Them in Fur v4 sm

Tun Myaing

Blog

Salvaged Gallery