Rochester artist to debut 'Wakefield' as part of remodeled Peace Plaza
Six years ago, Eric Anderson proposed a concept — originally to be located under a city skyway — to use lights to connect what’s happening inside the walls of Mayo Clinic back into the streets of downtown Rochester.
The makeshift display made its debut at the 2016 Prototyping Festival with a focus on four health events. With each, such as an organ transplant or completion of chemo, a different color would light up to signify the event.
Additionally, Anderson worked with Mayo to use de-itentified data to beam violet light every time a baby was born. Those moments, as I wrote at the time, had a profound impact on everyone who walked by at the right time.
In the time since the protoype went live, the project has been tweaked and refined as Anderson worked with local officials and international artists to incorporate the concept into the new $17 million Heart of the City project.
The result, “Wakefield,” is set to go live next Monday in Peace Plaza — though you won’t know it’s there much of the time. The installation will only be visible during the first and last breaths of a human life inside the nearby hospital walls. Passersby will not know which; instead, a stream of fog and light will emerge from the plaza, prompting us to pause and, as Anderson put it, “to consider the whole of life, its porousness, its impermanence and to remind us, right now, that we are present.”
What follows is a brief conversation we had with Anderson ahead of Monday’s reveal of “Wakefield.” Further reporting on the Heart of the City project will appear in the June edition of The Beat Monthly.
MCB: From the prototype to now, tell us how this art installation evolved over the past six years.
Anderson: It started with the idea of representing a range of health events using different colors. Over time we learned that communicating the connections between specific colors and health events was challenging to convey in a public space. Through collaborating with artist Ann Hamilton and the project’s curator, Hesse McGraw, the concept became what it is today, which feels to me much larger, deeper and honest.
MCB: What kind of mechanics and data go into making this installation possible?
Anderson: The health event data is de-identified on Mayo’s side. My system translates these events into a signal that activates lighting and fog systems connected to the scrim pool in Peace Plaza. The system is complex, but, importantly, it works in the background, not distracting from or acting as a barrier to experiencing the artwork.
MCB: Why first and last breaths? And why make them indistinguishable?
Anderson: Life is messy, complicated, confusing and beautiful. It can feel too long and it can certainly feel too short. The intention of the artwork isn’t to highlight or celebrate individual, finite beginnings and endings, the intention is to consider the whole of life, its porousness, its impermanence and to remind us, right now, that we are present.
MCB: How often can we expect these events to appear on Peace Plaza?
Anderson: On average there are roughly 20-30 events each day, most occurring during the daytime. Some days are more active than others, Friday often being the most active and Sunday the least.
MCB: What do you hope locals and visitors alike take away from the installation?
Anderson: I hope Wakefield invites us to be present, to slow down, to consider where we are in our lives, to consider where we are in the lives of others, or to simply be at peace.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
Cover photo: “Wakefield” on Peace Plaza / Submitted
