Today we’d like to introduce you to Ean Eldred.
Hi Ean, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE that our latest public artwork, MEMPHIS MUSE is now installed!
rhiza A+D is an art & architecture collaborative design studio and building workshop out of Portland, OR. We have been committed to the development and enlivening of public spaces through artworks and design both regionally and nationally for over 25 years. In 2018, we submitted and were selected through a public process to create an artwork for the Cossitt Library.
After many hurdles (and a global pandemic) the big Mockingbird Popup Book is now installed and awaits its final site work, lighting, and the official grand re-opening of the renovated Historic Cossitt Library, located in Downtown Memphis, TN. The artworks’ inspiration began with memories of childhood visits to the library. There we discovered and opened books whose vivid stories seemed to pop out of the pages, giving flight to our young imaginations.
The legendary W.C. Handy; musician, composer, producer, Memphian, and Father of the Blues wrote about his own childhood creative inspiration- “whippoorwills, bats and hoot owls and their outlandish noises, the sound of Cypress Creek washing on the fringes of the woodland, and the music of every songbird and all the symphonies of their unpremeditated art”.
We were also inspired by stories of people being awakened by their car alarms or cell phone rings, only to find it is a Mockingbird outside their windows exercising its freedom of mimicry and creativity. Although at times mocked, the Mockingbird is Tennessee’s state bird.
While designing “Memphis Muse” we collaborated with the Memphis Public Libraries to include a public outreach phase in order to bring into the artwork words, thoughts, and feelings about the Library and Memphis offered by both children and adults of the community. We then paired these community excerpts of the now with timeless lyrics from the region.
The base of the artwork will include lighting within a planted area filled with native pollinator-friendly plants.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It is always a struggle to create an artwork, and even more of a struggle to create public artworks that can reflect and resonate with the place in which it will take up permanent residence and become part of the community.
In this case, we were lucky to be able to work with the Memphis community, Urban Arts Commission, Memphis Public Libraries, and the Fourth Bluff Project who were amazing partners in collaborating with the community and sharing invaluable and inspirational stories.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
“Rhiza” stems from the word rhizome – a root system that is collaborative, diverse, and adaptable. We believe that it is through listening, storytelling, and art that we create and sustain diverse and therefore adaptable culture. For us, connecting unique perspectives is the root of durable design solutions. We believe in inviting, encouraging, and honoring the unique perspectives offered by individuals and communities. Experience has taught us that successful creative outcomes rely on building shared goals through clear communication and working collaboratively.
We believe art-making and culture are deeply rooted in stories. Creating and sharing stories is our human nature. The arts are an extraordinary medium that allows people to share experiences across cultures through music, food, dance, visual expression, etc. What we are most proud of is that we have shared and collaborated with many communities, agencies, and design teams to create artworks that reflect the unique character and story of a place, its people, and its culture. It is our deepest hope that our artworks reflect and celebrate the uniqueness of their landscape.
Our art-making practice explores the possibilities of a post-industrial relationship with nature. Our most essential human relationship is with nature. The deepening climate crisis continues to reveal how critical this relationship is. Our artworks seek to erode the boundaries between humans and nature, through the creation of new hybrids of “human nature”. These hybrid artworks are meant to evoke new ways of “seeing” human nature by bringing natural references back into the industry, architecture, agriculture, and infrastructure. This human-nature hybrid is deeply rooted in ancient ways of seeing and making. We seek to honor the ancestors by re-envisioning human industrial production as its original in a natural biological process.
It is critical that we expand the concept of “built environment” to include more than human needs. Before we can re-engineer a sustainable future we must re-envision our human place upon this planet and within its unique and life-giving environments. It is the ancient job of the artist to (re) envision and renew through storytelling, drawing, sculpting, etc. Our view of ourselves and most importantly, our relationship to nature.
By first “seeing” the needs of humans deeply merged with the biological needs of plants, insects, animals, land, water, and the air we can then begin to create a sustainable future.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Sharing stories, making experiences, and supporting public space.
Contact Info:
- Email: mail@rhizaaplusd.com
- Website: www.rhizaaplusd.com
- Instagram: @rhizaaplusd
- Facebook: @rhizaaplusd
Image Credits
rhiza A+D
