PRESENT / Pier 62
On view at Pier 62 Nov. 13, 2020 through February 18, 2021
About Present
The re-opening of the rebuilt Pier 62 created a space for Friends of Waterfront Seattle Artist In Residence, Takiyah Ward, to reflect on the present and how to be in this moment. She asked local artists, “How do we honor our elders, determine our self, and protect our youth?”
The artist collective Psych-Pop, comprised of Devon Midori Hale and Chi Moscou-Jackson, responded by creating an installation of light sculptures now on view at Pier 62.
ARTIFACTS FROM UTOPIA
“Meditating on the waterfront makes us think of arrivals and departures; of physical journeys, of generations passing on and new ones joining. We think about safe passages, including the movement of culture. These large time-capsular pod lanterns contain the seeds for a future culture we want to plant. This framing might suggest a desperate final attempt at survival, with life flung across a long, treacherous passage. It also reads like a safety measure or even an abundant pollination of a positive revolution. The smaller lanterns contain archival imagery of cultural objects that act as symbolic reliquary from communities and families in Seattle.”
– Psych-Pop
Meet the Artists
DEVON MIDORI HALE (SHE/HER)
Devon Midori Hale is a Seattle-based artist with many generations of personal history in Seattle. A painter, muralist, teaching artist, collaborator, and community-engaged public artist, her work explores themes such as memory, intergenerational patterns, family culture, Asian-Americana, and local history.
CHI MOSCOU‑JACKSON (HE/HIM)
Chi Moscou-Jackson is African American, born and raised in Seattle. He developed a passion for art while attending Garfield in the Central District, then left for art school and pursued his development in Toronto at the OCAD University. Growing up, he lived in an apartment on 1st and Jackson and spent many hours walking Seattle’s waterfront piers.
PSYCH‑POP
Devon and Chi met as classmates at Garfield High School (2001-05) and started collaborating on painting, installation, and art events in 2017. Their collaboration, Psych-Pop, accesses subconscious imagery that feels common to their generation, reflecting the rising commercialism and consumption with absurdity, humor, and apocalyptic dread.
About the 2020 Future Forward Artist‑In‑Residence Program
Friends of Waterfront Seattle, in partnership with the City of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects, welcomes you to experience the multimedia experiences created through our 2020 Future Forward: Artist-In-Residence Program.
This project was led by our first-ever Artist In Residence, Takiyah Ward, who envisioned the waterfront as a backdrop to explore the notion, “What is the Truth?” With the conceptual framework of Past, Present, and Future, Takiyah gathered a community of multi-generational storytellers and artists from diverse communities to share their unique experiences and perspectives. We invite you to reflect on these prompts that Takiyah shared with the artists: remember, learn, discern, determine, imagine.