The artist apparently read my post, too and can you believe this? She wrote me a thank you note! I feel compelled to share it, because it provides so much more insight to her piece. Here's her note:
Hi Amy! Thank you for your nice words about my work. I am sorry I did not get a chance to see yours while in Grand Rapids. In my opinion, Young Kim's work was the strongest in the pool and I am a great supporter of his work as you are.
I thought you might be interested in knowing a few details about my installation, such as how each helmet (there are 239 rice helmets in this iteration) symbolizes a child who was with me in the orphanage in Vung Tau in 1972. There were 240 originally installed, and one helmet has been "adopted" so this installation includes the remaining 239. The rice bed in the Old Federal space (which is 1600 square feet in total) is 16' x 12' and there are five Super-8 clips projected on it--the footage was a gift from the people who ran the orphanage where I lived in '72, and I received it nearly 20 years later. For me, the helmets also stand in for soldiers--and the rice itself represents the life/death cycle.
I hope you enjoyed your ArtPrize experience. Safe journey!
adrienne
I'm going to give you a link to her website because there is much to learn and her photos are far better than my point and shoot version:
In just a bit less than 24 hours the winner of ArtPrize will be announced at a huge bash in Grand Rapids. I'd give anything to be there to witness the outcome. Stay tuned!
