The theme
As children, we all want our parents to be perfect. As children, we deserve it. And at the same time, our parents cannot be perfect. They’re all human, just like us.
But still, from our perspective as children, we deserve perfection. So even if we can’t get it, those feelings deserve to be acknowledged.
This piece is created to provide an opportunity for us to say these things, to give voice to these feelings we’ve had since we are children. To say what we want that might reach our perfect parents, in whatever other dimension they might be in. The things that as adults we know might not even be useful for us to say now, even if we can.
The sculpture
The sculpture itself is wings of welded steel wrapped with wires and lights, surrounding the carved and painted wooden silhouettes of parents showing care.
The wings represent possibility. The carved figures represent the ideal parents we deserve, the dreams we had, of the attention and love we deserved.
The sculpture also presents the opportunity to send that message. The LEDs react and change patterns on receiving nearby audio input. When heard, the sculpture send the message onward, symbolized by a unique LED pattern moving up the wings of the sculpture, to reach the wingtips and be sent off into the aether.
The sculpture itself is about 7 feet tall, 10 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with a total diameter of about 10 feet of space. The piece runs from dusk to dawn, powered by battery. In contexts where controlled ritual burning is permissible, a wooden box is placed next to the piece for written messages people might prefer to send to their ideal parents. These messages will be sent to the aether via burning.
The disconnect between ideal and reality can be so painful, and so easily papered over in our adult lives. This is an experience intended to give people a space to dig into this part of all our beings, and complete a communication that is really with themselves. To voice a wish so that it can be acknowledged, with the purpose of moving forward healing in any form that can take.
Initial concept visualization:
Onsite pictures
In addition to the photo at the top, here are some other pictures of the piece as it was shown at for Burning Man in Black Rock City, 2024.
Photo by Gretchen Bosso
