Where We Play is Where We Grow
At the intersection of art and science, Floating Kīpuka/Dreaming the Futures We Want to Grow captures the essence of youth
As children, we could all attest to what pain truly was: stepping on a Lego. The shooting sensation of a sharp, rectangular plastic block digging into the heel of your foot was unimaginable. Now, as we age, we begin to wonder what else experiences pain, and how that pain inspires growth–questions aptly answered using art and Legos in Dowd’s most recent exhibit.
Artist and educator Corinne Okada Takara’s Floating Kīpuka/Dreaming the Futures We Want to Grow is currently on display on the first floor of the Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Gallery.
The exhibit is a series of interactive sculptures, prints and community-created projects that dream of a more sustainable and equitable future.
Upon entrance to the exhibit, vibrant Lego structures, neon-printed tapestries and a biomaterial piñata inhabit the gallery. The exhibit evades expectation, as it is tailored toward themes of agricultural and environmental sustainability but approaches them with childlike vivacity. Elaborate color schemes and filled-to-the-brim Lego bins contribute to the playful, collaborative and innovative design of the exhibit.
Floating Kīpuka is an exhibit that one must see for oneself, and reflect on.
The intricate and delicate sculptures line tables and walls, enveloping onlookers in a multimedia, environmental affair. From afar, it is nearly impossible to see the detailed layering and assembling of Lego structures, clay and other forms of plastics. Upon a closer look, then, a story is revealed in each individual sculpture, leaving visitors pondering the role of science and art in an environmentally just future.
The installation features a suspended wooden Lego table as a centerpiece, installed by wiring, highlighting smaller Lego sculptures on the table. Adjacent is a workstation for visitors and students to create their own sculpture that reflects dreams of a sustainable future.
This exhibit challenges visitors with three questions:
- What is the future you wish to grow?
- Who gets to dream about that future?
- Who gets to define what art and science are for?
Alongside the creations is a wall of small story cards that feature images of participants’ Lego sculptures and a written reflection about their own Kīpuka, a word of Hawaiian origin describing vegetation that sprouts around lava, or “a place where life or culture endures, regardless of any surrounding turbulence,” according to slides projected on the walls of the gallery. The slides describe the steps taken to assemble the exhibit and its significance in relation to environmental sustainability.
Okada Takara is the Lucas Fellow Visiting Artist and has over 15 years of experience working in art, community projects and game design. For the project, she collaborated with communities in Salinas, Calif.; Oahu, Hawai’i and Ginkgo Bioworks in Boston, Mass.. All three locations hold significance in regards to the farming, importing and producing of agricultural products, respectively.
Floating Kīpuka/Dreaming the Futures We Want to Grow is open until April 28, 2023 in the Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Gallery.