Till Earth and Heaven Ring (Primary Title)
Sonya Clark, American, born 1967 (Artist)
Sonya Clark constructs works about history from the materials that speak to that history. Over the course of her career, she has explored the nature of material in the hands of the artist and the embodiment of the self in art. In this multi-media work, Clark extends this meditation in a collaboration with jazz musician and visual artist Jason Moran.
The player piano plays Moran's rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (embraced as the Black American national anthem) by emitting light through sheet music attached to the piano's drum. Installed on a nearby wall is a small replica of the Liberty Bell; but instead of a typical metal clapper, it contains one that Clark constructed using her own hair. The concept emphasizes not only the muffling of the bell’s sound but also the DNA-based subjugation tethered to the notion of “Liberty” at the very founding of this country.
Sonya Clark: Self-Evident, African American Museum in Philadelphia: Philadelphia, PA, May 25 - September 8, 2019
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