By Patricia Anderson Turner
“Assault on Orlando” installation (Beyond the Frame’s Best of Show)
My contract for a solo in Sarasota, FL stipulated the inclusion of an installation about the Pulse Nightclub massacre that I had designed but not yet constructed. A back injury forced me to improvise with new tools, techniques, and materials; not being able to sit at my work station prevented me from using my main tool and thus became my opportunity to “be that person who takes a disadvantage and turns it into an advantage” (Dear Old Dad’s Advice).
I dye-paint all my work, whether on textiles, archival paper, or wood with Procion MX powdered dyes I purchase from Dhrama Trading Company along with bolts of various silks. The powders are very toxic and fine particles so, trust me, you MUST wear a respirator. Soda ash is used as the activating agent. I mix my own colors for intensity, either in plastic bottles with “beakers” found in beauty salons or I store them in spice shakers. Any brushes will do, but improvisational painting tools are too much fun. I find many of mine in my spouse’s garage.
Unable to sit, I dye-painted while standing in my shallow pool which was wonderfully pleasant. The Florida heat contributes to the brilliant intensity and luminescence of the dyes, which are so different from paints. I think of them as almost 3 dimensional in their depth, their glow, and their beauty
Using all primary and secondary colors of dyed silk organza and cotton I revised my initial concept of 49 machine sewn ethereal dancing figures to “simple” origami, in this case butterflies. I stood at an elevated ironing board to iron, fold, and crease with a creasing tool and tacked the silk in place with hand stitches. Although light as air, I found I also had to support their wings and backs with carefully placed small gauge wire of matching colors. Using heavy upholstery thread in a neutral color, I made three-point knots from wings to head and rolled as much as 16 feet of thread onto wine corks (no problem finding 49 of those). I used clear tacks to hold them onto wine corks At installation, these simple tacks will hold the butterflies invisibly to the venue’s ceiling, one of which is 20 feet high.
The 91” x 54“ flag is my dyed cotton hand sewn onto heavy duty automotive headliner “fabric” for strength and durability. I have never heard of anyone using this material before but, hey, it worked great! I used two-sided carpet tape to keep the Gay Pride flag firmly in place on the floor. Atop the 6 colored flag I hand sewed a 95” AR-15 semi-automatic rifle diagonally. It is made from lace, sequins, leather, bridal fabric, and more beads and shiny “doodahs” than I can count. People often ask me why I make these weapons of war so beautiful and my answer is… “deep artistic sarcasm”. I printed the faces of all 49 victims with my wide body Epson DuraBrite printer in silk in sepia tones and sewed them on. The final touch was to spread approximately 100 empty shell casings randomly over the entire flag.
Packing and shipping this installation is a chore indeed. After its debut at my solo political exhibit in Sarasota in 2016, it has travelled to Tallahassee’s MoMA to be in the international “Waging Peace” exhibit (printed book), was published in North Florida’s K-12 art program, and then exhibited earlier this year at the ARTRage Gallery in Syracuse, NY for Curator Karen Gutfreund’s impactful “Deadlocked and Loaded” exhibit and wonderful catalog. Here is a link to video of Karen installing the birds where you can see they are so light they move with any air, even from an air or heat duct. https://www.instagram.com/p/CK6XGqZgQ18/
Each of the 49 butterflies is packed individually with bubble wrap and archival paper, otherwise the threads would become impossibly tangled. The floor flag is sent separately wrapped around a 10 “diameter A/C metal duct that is covered with fleece and archival paper. Pool noodles are placed in all four corners of the rectangular box for stabilization.
Lighting is crucial to this installation to create dramatic shadows of the butterflies on the floors and the walls. Lights placed directly above the butterflies and pointed in all directions will accomplish this. Remember to have your work installed first, prior to the remainder of the exhibit being hung, so that you can get some stand-alone photographs.
“Assault on Orlando” will exhibit this February, 2022, in the “Women Take Issue” exhibit, conceived of and managed by me, at the exquisite Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in Fort Myers, Florida. For Gay Pride month next June of 2022, it will be exhibited in an intimate gallery at the Fort Myers Alliance for the Arts, the plan is to surround the installation with paintings done by Pulse Nightclub victims.
I want the world to remember the useless violence perpetrated on those innocent, dancing souls.
