2006 - Silver City: Alchemy

New Mexico Arts presented the second annual T.I.M.E. – Temporary Installations Made for the Environment in Silver City. New Mexican artists from throughout the state created temporary, never-before-seen, environmental artworks based on the theme alchemy. The event coincided with Silver City’s 10th Annual Weekend at the Galleries. The artworks were displayed for approximately three weeks and were dissembled and removed.

Artwork was created for and exhibited in various locations in Silver City including Grant County Courthouse, La Capilla Chapel, Big Ditch Park, Murray Ryan Visitors’ Center, and Gila Regional Medical Center. The following artists participated in T.I.M.E. and included Paul Joseph Barron, Jean-Robert P. Be’ffort, Bobbe Besold, Matthew Chase-Daniel, Jessica Dunn, Jeannette Hart-Mann, Elizabeth Hunt, Chrissie Orr, Jeff Turner, and Casey Alan Warr.

Featured Work:

topos: squall - Jeannette Hart-Mann
Hart-Mann created a site-specific sculpture made of clear plastic bags and water. As a topographic mass it mimicked a body of water as it rolled over land. The actual containment of water referenced a dam and the work challenged notions of materialism, environment, and perception, and the human desire to control and collect nature. Viewers were encouraged to watch as the work changed throughout the day through differing light.

Desert Flowers - Elizabeth Hunt
Hunt created a large-scale work of over 2000 steels rods and white plastic bags. The work was inspired by plastic bags seen from a car window. She was struck by the beauty and tragedy of their place in the environment, and was struck that something like discarded as trash could be used to create something beautiful.

The Portal of Light - Paul Joseph Barron
The artist created a temporal doorway to represent Silver City, its history, present, and possible future through a projection on La Capilla Chapel. The portal was only revealed during certain parts of the day which enhanced the temporary nature of this site-specific installation.

Memory Leaves - Bobbe Besold
Besold used bamboo, willow, translucent paper, beeswax, cord, metal rebar, and organic materials to create a work that honored memory, reflection, seasonal changes, and the idea of transmutation and new beginnings.

Untitled - Jeff Turner
Turner’s artwork was made from five heavy rocks, individually wrapped in chains, displayed in a circle with the chains extending towards a center spike.

The Frozen and Animated State of Alchemy - Jean-Robert P. Be’ffort
Be’ffort constructed an ice bridge 65 feet long by 2 feet wide by 7 feet tall. Made from block ice the work spanned a gap created in the 1880s by flood waters. The work challenged the viewer to experience another time and space. *In a creative irony the work was washed away in flood waters.

The Human-to-Oil Press - Jessica Dunn
Dunn constructed a significant artwork of wood, olive oil, and metal. The piece referenced the human reliance on oil and proposed the possibility of humans being able to regenerate their own fossils fuels through an act of alchemy. It challenged viewers to think about ways we can work in harmony with the environment to meet our needs.

Bread Drawing - Chrissie Orr
Orr constructed locally gathered organic materials into a work in the tradition of sand mandalas and paintings. Bread Drawing used traditional geometric shapes and was oriented to the four compass directions. The artist focused on the process of making bread and the alchemy demonstrated in the process.

Pole Sculptures - Matthew Chase-Daniel
Chase-Daniel used poles, organic materials, and concrete to create an artwork that transformed materials often disregarded into a powerful and unique representation of these objects from the mundane to something highly regarded. The work sought to challenge the human relationship to and perception of nature.

Untitled - Casey Alan Warr
The artist created a sculpture of steel and organic materials to address the balance of water and the universe to support an environment for the Silver Minnow. The work sought to sustain the animal and rectify bad aspects of their current plight into something positive.