Mississippi River Studies

"Turning" Sculpture in progress

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“Turning” (Prayer wheels in action) at Lafayette Square on temporary loan before it’s final destination!

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“Turning” consists of interactive “prayer wheels” showing iconography of the Mississippi River with three distinct periods of the river’s windings from Baton Rouge to Venice, LA. The cylinders are lit at night via solar energy. When still, the cylinders will emit pulses of a dim blue light. Viewers may turn each stainless steel cylinder in the way a prayer wheel is spun.  Spinning a cylinder will intensify the light it emits.

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The prayer wheels “iconography” is based on maps of the Mississippi River which indicate 3 eras that the river has undergone over millennia. 

TOP RIVER: “Wild era” was before western settlements existed, when the Mississippi wound around un-leveed, ever flooding and dangerous, but a great builder of the country’s land with its deposits of sediment in the waters. 

MIDDLE RIVER: “Colonial plantation era” marks the beginning of land ownership and modest levees; this era also significantly represents the period of forced enslavement of African and Native Americans along its shores, which details the illicit source of energy of its day.  

BOTTOM RIVER: “Petrochemical corridor era,” also known as Cancer Alley, is the present day period of unsustainable energy and modern day land-loss. The engraved lines show the property ownership acreage and the cut out circles are corporate buildings. “Turning” maps courtesy of Kate Orff/Scape from Petrochemical America- Misrach/Orff, Aperture, 2012 with additions by the artist.

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Now for preparing the site where the sculptures will finally go. As in the mock up, we want to restore the little 30′ diameter meadow with wildflowers and native grasses. The site as we found it, was overrun with invasive grasses called torpedo weeds and nut grasses. So the work begins! Digging carefully to remove the full root base since the grasses can come back by just a small bit of the root remaining behind. This process will take a few weeks in spring with the help of volunteers. In between digs, we cover the site with a thick 6 mil plastic so the weeds cook and die back. Then we will return in fall to add new plants and nutrients. All of this is done without herbicides or pesticides. 

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“Turning” (Prayer wheels in action) at Lafayette Square on temporary loan before it’s final destination!

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“Turning” has image/maps of the Mississippi river in three different phases.  Wild, plantation era (slavery) and petrochemical era (landless era). “Turning” maps courtesy of Kate Orff/Scape from Petrochemical America- Misrach/Orff, Aperture, 2012 with additions by the artist. In this video, the map is being cut with a high velocity stream of water and garnet powder at a fabrication studio right beside the Mississippi River. Map by Kate Orff / SCAPE from Petrochemical America (Misrach/Orff, Aperture, 2012) used with Kate’s permission. 

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Creating one of the 3 mosaics as a base for the “Turning sculpture (prayer wheels)” with Italian porcelain. The pattern is of the Mississippi River creating new land over thousands of years (from the Fisk Maps of 1944). Each mosaic weighs about 200 lbs as finished discs. Many thanks to Keith Rogers for the help!

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The wild Mississippi River detail from "Turning" prayer wheels sculpture.. #turning #livingwithwater #mississippiriver #michelvarisco

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Sneak peak at engraving and waterjet cut details in progress "Turning sculpture" A big shout out to Kate Orff and Skip Stander for their help. #lafitte greenway #livingwithwater