Search results | Digital Grinnell

Title: Chaos
Description: Unlike many of the blocks in this piece, this block is not tied to an individual story or person but rather attempts to show an idea. The block is centered around an image of a head both human and alien, evoking emotions such as pain, fear, and sadness. These are the emotions associated with colonialism and violence, of oppression and disease, and were likely felt by Haitians at the time of the revolution. While this musical being appears cry and mourn, it also inspires a sense of power and awe in the viewer, similar to the feeling of power that many Haitians were beginning to sense as the revolution took hold of Haiti. This block, while more abstract than others, contributes to the abolitionist story by recognizing the role of terror and chaos, while representing the relationship between pain and strength, fear and power.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25503

Title: Collision
Description: This block is a visualization of the clash between the cosmic forces of nature and the institutions of humankind. This encounter was especially apparent during the revolution in Haiti; the very concept of slavery and the violence that grew from it defies nature in every way. The plantation economy which ran off the energy of slaves turned a lush tropical landscape into flat planes of torture. Confrontation between armed forces over these plantations wreaked havoc on the earth and the destroyed the natural landscape. In this block an image of a classical Greco-Roman building, representing the institutions of a “more civilized” people, collides with the cosmic forces of earth and nature. These forces are commonly called upon in Haitian Vodou ceremonies, making this collision not just one between man and nature but also between ideologies and philosophies.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25492

Title: Currency
Description: The story of Haiti since 1492, in broad strokes, is the story of export-oriented exploitation and the politics that come with that commerce. The extinction of native peoples due to hard labor, and the clearing of the land to produce sugar and other export crops, is marked by the totem in the lower-left corner of this block. Coins also contribute historical significance to this block, serving as markers for the economic interests of various global powers in this small nation and the interaction of Haiti’s history with neighbors in the New World. In some cases, these former colonies started their revolutions with support from Haiti. Currency also captures historical events, people, and cultural relations between nations. Jean-Pierre Boyer, Charlemagne Peralte, and monarchs of France are displayed. Some coins have specific years or are from periods of historical significance to the development of Haiti.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25507

Title: Gran Bwa
Description: This block was created to represent the environmental turmoil experienced by Haiti since the introduction of sugarcane to the island over 400 years ago. The images in this block are layered in resin, with some images appearing farther from the viewer than others. The layers progress in relation to time, representing different stages of the Haitian environment. The bottom layer of the block is adorned with flowers, referencing the botanical beauty that could be witnessed on the island of Hispaniola before the plantation system took root. Introduction of sugarcane to the island is represented by the Gran Bwa veve, a religious symbol representing the loa Gran Bwa, a Vodou loa responsible for the health of herbs, trees, and other inhabitants of the land. In this block, the artists have chosen to include the Gran Bwa veve to represent an opposing force to the influx of sugarcane. After introducing the two opposing forces, the artists added images of malignant bacteria on the bottom left to symbolize the destruction that sugarcane caused on the island. The bacteria also represents the infectious nature of both sugarcane and plantation slavery, calling attention to how both quickly overtook the island and its people.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25511

Title: Invitation
Description: This block emerged from an invitation to participate in a campus-wide reflection on race, revolution, and artist’s place in our troubled social context. The ominous and powerful insect, the central image in this piece, is based on Alejo Carpentier's magical realist novel on the Haitian revolution, The Kingdom of this World. Is the insect colonialism? The revolution? It confronts the viewer with questions: Why don’t we know our own history, and why are we so afraid to teach it? In the same way that the insect confronts the viewer in this piece, we must confront our history and the ways in which it impacts our lives today. Although the insect hovers over us, threatening to destroy our memories, histories, and futures, we continue to coexist with it, allowing it to grow and respond to our changing conditions. The layering, movement, and sedimentation of the composition is meant to evoke the oceans, currents, and the troubling depths of race as “natural” yet at the same time constructed, still powerful and unsettling. It is a sea constantly troubled, whether we are aware or not. This block, and this installation as a whole, acts as an invitation to calmly evaluate ourselves in relation to our histories and education, without drowning in the waves.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25500

Title: Kochon Kréyol
Description: At the center of this block, a cut-out photograph of a domestic pig is superimposed over a woodcut print showing pigs in a farmhouse pen, framed by the words “Kochon Kréyol” and “Zami Mwen” which mean “creole pig” and “good friend” in Creole. The pig imagery is surrounded by leaves, buttons, sequins, and red flower petals. The petals, cut into droplets, resemble drops of blood and call to mind the animal sacrifice often performed in Haitian Vodou ritual. Goats, pigs, chickens, and bulls are among the animals commonly sacrificed in the ritual, the role of which is to emphasize the importance of blood and flesh, the sources of life-force and vigor in Vodou tradition. Although the domesticated pig is commonly slaughtered either for ritual or food, the woodcut honors the pig’s sacrifices by addressing it as a good friend in the Haitian language, exemplifying the creole appreciation for all living beings.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25517

Title: La Sirene
Description: The centerpiece of this block is a formerly minted Haitian coin. The coin features a profile view of La Sirene, a mami wata (mermaid) and a Loa of wealth. The complex mythology of Haitian Vodou was centered around an extensive pantheon of deities called Loa, each representing a unique natural force or human attribute. La Sirene is married to Agwe, Loa of the sea, and is known to embody materialism and vanity. The objects which surround La Sirene were chosen for their association with the sea; the translucent blue and white pebbles remind us of crashing ocean waves, and the small floating moon above the coin alludes to the power La Sirene holds over the oceans and tides. The torn fishnet placed over the coin is a reference to a life spent in the seas, yet it also represents bondage, pillage, and liberation, reminding us of the terrible violence and awesome courage that led to the birth of the nation of Haiti. The artists also included La Sirene veve, a geometric religious symbol drawn on the floor of a sacred space with corn meal, wheat flour, soil, or chalk. These objects and drawings, collected and arranged by the artists, unite together to create a piece which honors the deity and her worship while also recognizing the struggle that enabled the minting of a uniquely Haitian currency, presented here almost like a trophy raised high at the end of a hard-fought battle.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25512

Title: The Fire
Description: On August 16th 1791, in the eleventh month of the Haitian Revolution, slaves from the Limbé district set fire to a wealthy French estate. During their subsequent interrogation they revealed the names of rebellion leaders, further advancing the story of the revolution. As the story of the rebellion spread over the island, slaves vowed to burn as many plantations as possible. Fiery acts such as these became more common as the revolution gathered steam, harming humans and animals alike and leaving the once beautiful Haitian landscape black and smoldering. In this block, the artist has used fake flower petals, red marbles, and enlarged images of orange microscopic organisms to create the sensation of heat and flames while also incorporating allusions to nature. The block revolves around an image depicting a burning plantation and a rioting mass of people running with arms raised, a scene from the 1791 revolt. On the left, a figure wearing a crown hangs from a tree, perhaps symbolizing the persecution of the Haitian people at the hands of French colonists.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25506

Title: The Storm
Description: The center image of this block, placed on the very bottom of the mold so as to appear farthest from the viewer, depicts the capital city of Port-au-Prince after the magnitude 3.1 hurricane which devastated the island in 2010. In this piece, the city is divided by a trail of nails; the buildings on the left side of the nails had received government funding for repair and the buildings on the right did not. The national poverty that necessitated this divide is one of the many ailments that plague formerly colonized nations; either you submit to imperial rule, or suffer economic consequences so often brushed aside as “third world problems.” In popular images of Port-au-Prince the right side of this picture is often cut out, eliminating the catastrophe from contemporary memory and thereby erasing the physical and emotional trauma caused by the disaster. The left side of this block depicts an ideal Haiti. A land warmed and nurtured by bright sunshine, this Haiti is known for its brightly colored houses and shell-speckled beaches, represented here with colorful sequins, marbles, and sea glass. The set of keys, paired with reflective shapes evocative of windows, call to mind a welcoming community where every family has a home. The right side of the block, however, represents the true Haiti. Economic class seems fixed enough to be nailed down. The black and amber stones represent Haiti’s crippling dependance on oil and external revenue, and the true Haiti is seen here still entangled in the net of poverty and colonialism. While this Haiti may seem grim, it is comprised of tools which can be used to build a brighter future. Buttons, screws, nails, and netting may look like detritus to some, but can transform into implements with which to achieve a more idyllic Haiti.
Date Created: 2017
PID: grinnell:25514