2021, currently on view
aluminum, aluminized mylar, steel
44’ x 460’ x 210’
fifty-eight 20’ x 2 7/8” diameter elements
Columbus, IN
Commissioned by Exhibit Columbus, curated by Mimi Zeiger and Iker Gil
Link to all of the project narratives, including English translations
Approaching Columbus, Indiana, at the intersection of I-65 and State Road 46, lay a landscaped sign encouraging you to“Discover Columbus!” Its message links Christopher Columbus’ efforts “discovering the new world” to the world discovering this small city in middle America.
The play on words references the 15th century papal decrees that established the Doctrine of Discovery—edicts which enabled the slavery of non-Christians and gave total right to lands encountered through exploration to the empires who found them, in disregard of the long histories of indigenous peoples. These texts fuel the origin myths used to support extractive and exploitive practices still present in our global landscape. Our ability to persevere through the everyday reach of this violence is a counter to our involute history.
We portray the complexity of “Columbus” as both a physical place (in Indiana and elsewhere), and a system of signification extending in every direction. The installation consists of 58 flagpole-like props without their flag-images. Their placement corresponds to a specific Columbus, Columbia, Colombo, or Colón placename mapped using a Mercator projection. Carefully researched text specific to each locale spirals each pole, overwriting the network with new associations. To read these fragments induces a spiraling movement, propelling the visitor to form a uniquely constructed story.
by
Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers
with
Design and Narrative Research: Kathy Kao and Arseny Pekurovsky
Fabrication and Installation: Bryan Burton, Ryan Hilbert, Vince Rubio, Andy Piercefield, Mike Butler, and Kyle Ross of City of Columbus Public Works
Xai Vue, Erin Benesch, and Emma Rader of Advantage Signs & Graphics
Tim M. Allen of Independent Land Surveying Inc.
Garelick Steel, Bo Jacobsson, Anthony Gage Lockhart, Zeus Richardson, Derek Ronding, Kruz Karstedt, Taylor Crosby, Jamie Goldsborough, Bethany Ferril, ESL Spectrum, Tovey-Perry Co.,
Engineering: Elizabeth Woolf, Katahdin Engineering
Documentation: Hadley Fruits
in thanks
Anne Surak and Janice Shimizu, Exhibit Columbus
Mark Jones and Casey Ritz, City of Columbus Parks Department
Clayton Binkley, ODD Lot