80 unique bricks, shear ribbons, 500 lbs of sand, bucket of water, package of hydrated lime. Installation

 

When the artist moved to New York City, she began collecting bricks from all over the world and was fascinated by the tactile sense of history that she felt with the material and wanted to express its individuality. In the installation These Are Their Stories, each brick has its own history, story and life. In a way they are like people, each one being a product of their culture. Some have a longer history: who made them, where they were used and for what purpose, when they were taken out of their location, and where they were collected. Other, newer bricks have shorter stories or even unknown stories. The length of each story can be seen by the length of the ribbons hanging down from each brick. The installation emphasizes that they are being supported, rather than supporting a structure—as in their usual function—allowing the weight of each brick to be expressed, and at the same time contradicting their mass by looking virtually weightless. Each of them represents a suspended soul. Guests are invited to engage with the piece. Walk through the space; take their shoes off and let the sand pass through their toes; pass their fingers over the fabric; read the text on the ribbons. Examine the bricks, touch their surfaces and even smell them.