JANE MULFINGER: West is South 2019
West is South 2019
A site-specific text and sound-based work for the Santa Barbara region
Using the inherent spatial dissonance most inhabitants of the area assume - that the ocean is west rather than the actuality that when we look out over the Pacific from the Santa Barbara coast, it is south - this work operates between realtime current concerns of belonging with a long arc of seismic shifts over centuries. In the gallery and across the region, the general public is asked to describe their thoughts about belonging to form the basis of this multi-part, roving work in sites across the city with its base in the Atkinson Gallery. The subject of belonging is particularly resonant at this time - a time of insecurity for many people - especially in the centuries-old human movement along the west coast.
In the gallery, video of walks taken from the Atkinson Gallery in the four cardinal directions are projected from surveyor tripods while the ever-growing collection of anonymous texts scroll on the gallery walls. On the terrace white flags with more texts move in the breeze and high on a wooden platform two exercise bikes and cowbells on a fly wheel ring intermittently when activated, creating a sonic calling across boundaries. In the city, pop up writing sessions are conducted at multiple events and schools contributing narratives that are in turn, present in the gallery.
