Long Call
2007, Scultpure at Perkins Center for the Arts,
Collingswood, NJ
Balsa Wood, Acrylic and Pipe Ties
96" x 96" x 60" H
Pink at Perkins -
The Contradictory Character of a Complex Color
was a muli-site exhibition devoted to the exploration
of a single color.
Long Call explores my personal history with the Pink Triangle. Originally used as a Nazi concentration camp badge to identify male homosexuals the pink triangle was appropriated in the 1980's by radicalized Gays as a defiant emblem. The adoption crystalized the alienation, rage, fear and power we so poignantly felt. Wearing my little pink triangle button was one of the most empowering acts of my life.
20 some years later, I wanted to build a piece that expressed the strength this symbol embodied for us. I struggled with designs that literally used the triangles as a surface of a shield or a large reflector resembling a satellite dish. These efforts seemed trite and irrelevant. Time has passed and things have started to change. I haven't worn a button in years. I no longer need to fight the lies I was taught as a child. I can't imagine hiding my sexuality from anyone. The triangles opened up into interconnecting forms. The piece, like the symbol has evolved from a defensive fortress into a safe place, a nest.
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