Name of Exhibition: Marlon Griffith’s Symbols of Endurance
Course number: FA/ARTH 1900
Course Name: Art in the City (Fall 2015)
Course Info: Section A: Tutorial 14
Name: Melosha Ratnasingham
Student Number: 214402499
Name of TA: Melanie Wilmink
Course Instructor: Charlene Lau
Symbols of Endurance: Mimicking Viewers Experience through Art
Symbols of Endurance, at the Art Gallery of York University, displays the work of the procession, Ring of Fire, by Trinidadian artist, Marlon Griffith. The gallery brings life to the various ideas, costumes and action present from the project; it provides viewers with new knowledge of social awakening and experience. The AGYU strives to display Griffith’s process of preparing, …show more content…
This commission was a collaborative piece involving three-hundred participants, within the procession, in which individuals were represented through different costumes. This included, “disability dancers from Picasso Pro and Equal Grounds, the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, members of Toronto’s Capoeira Angôla community, and young spoken word poets from Jane-Finch, Malvern and Regent Park.” Marlon Griffith wanted to use the Ring of Fire to be a representation of a “symbol of endurance, solidarity, and social awakening, [in addition to] raise critical awareness around accessibility in solidarity with persons with disabilities” (AGYU, …show more content…
The seed has a feathery exterior with a small triangular shaped center; the light brown leaf has intricate details seen from the leaf’s complex interior structure. These objects are revealed as the artist’s inspiration for the project. To the left of the framed objects, a hallway leads to a large installation of black chevron shapes hung from the ceiling, and a collection of large arrows placed in the wall. Leading up to this installation are sketches for costumes on both the left and right walls, for the seven symbols. This large installation is a dominate piece that can captivate viewers; however, there is an isolated room behind the right wall that is overlooked. This isolated room is the “Archive Room”; it holds a variety of Marlon Griffith’s initial process work that displays the seven teachings for the project. Standing in front of the room, with the entrance on the left, the right wall carries different technical drawings. Some incorporate designs for individuals using mobile devices and designs for the different symbols. In the bottom right corner, there is a low platform with small scale models of costumes for the seven grandfather teachings, and a flat screen that plays a piece from the performance. Along the left wall are a variety of sketches, sketchbooks, notes, fabric swatches, colour palettes, and mask templates encased in glass boxes attached to the floor, and hung frames above