Three artists:  Fae Logie, Tiki Mulvihill and Shirley Wiebe, work together in collaborative agreement of purpose, feeling and action to create cross-cultural hybrids. Concert hybrids engage community through a Chinese New Year ‘concert’ in conjunction with the Year of Sheep February 19, 2015, combining sculptural installations, sound and physical action.

The artists’ objective focuses on the belief that connections between individuals and communities forge through guided interactive opportunities to diminish assumptions and lift the barrier of spectatorship.

Numerous cultures have interpreted visions of stars in the night sky. The constellation of Orion is recognizable in the southern night sky. In the western Zodiac, Orion is associated with Sagittarius, the hunter. His arrow lands in the adjacent pond. Above Orion, garden hose salvaged from the park contorts into fractal configurations inspired by the curvilinear Yin pattern in the leak window. Rather than winding along the ground to transport water, this snake-like being is airborne.

The element of water links to both Eastern and Western astrology. These ponds effectively provide a backdrop for the Hybrid II as ‘Three Moons Reflected in Water.’ In direct translation, three convex mirrors are fashioned to float in three phases: Full, Crescent and Gibbous. In turn, they reflect an all-encompassing view of sky, architecture and viewers.

Nearby, the weeping willow serves as a tree of enchantment. Spiraling metal ribbons suspend down toward the water, playing with the fluidity of raindrops from the sky.

Willow is the Buddhist symbol of meekness and this quality is also attributed to the rabbit, one of twelve animal signs in the Chinese horoscope. The rabbit is distinguished by peacefulness, an attribute used to describe the traditional design of a Chinese public park. Within western culture this animal knows how to successfully leap, hide and camouflage within its environment.

Through a floating Sagittarian symbol, Orion’s arrow points towards this animal, directing our gaze beyond simple glances, to truly grasp what we may not actually look for or see in the natural world. The rabbit hybrid responds to our glance and to the wind through the mechanism of whirligig.

With Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Public Park showing signs of new leaves and blossums, Concert, the second of three components of the one-year project of CONDUIT, comes to an end. A final improvisational performance of masked participants celebrated connections of ‘East meets West’ through community engagement.

HYBRID 1

HYBRID 2

HYBRID 3

‘East meets West’ Performance

Artists/Performers (left to right)

top: Shirley Wiebe, Juan Cisneros, Robert Turriff, Rebecca Geddes, Tiki Mulvihill,, bottom: Francis Freeman, Ilze Bebris, Martin Borden Neumann, Fae Logie

musician in image below: Clara Shandler