Nicholas Galanin and Merritt Johnson: Water Moves Life
Anchorage Museum Lawn and satellite locations throughout Anchorage and Alaska
June 17, 2022 – Spring 2023
Production | Acquisition Grant
Water Moves Life is a site-specific work by artists Nicholas Galanin and Merritt Johnson installed outdoors on the Anchorage Museum lawn, in Cuddy Park in Anchorage, and in Juneau, Alaska.
In these installations, bronze forms replicate mass-produced plastic jugs, which the artists see as both mundane products of global capitalism and tools for survival amidst climate change. As the latter, these forms symbolize containers for carrying life-sustaining clean water to people in need: migrants making dangerous journeys, those displaced by climate disasters, or refugees fleeing political unrest.
By casting such utilitarian objects in bronze, a material traditionally used to fabricate large-scale monuments, the artists create vessels that prompt viewers to consider the precariousness of life and the legacy now being created for future generations.
The installation also employs layers of sound – manmade sounds, sounds related to human and animal migration, and human voices – as audible cues underscoring the importance of hearing what surrounds us and the potential consequences when we don’t.
By exploring different associations between the natural world and the built environment, Water Moves Life will be the banner work of Listen Up, a 20-person group exhibition at the Anchorage Museum that will explore how climate change is affecting the natural acoustic fabric of the circumpolar North. The Anchorage Museum’s mission is to connect people, expand perspectives, and encourage global dialogue about the North and its distinct environment.
To learn more, visit the Anchorage Museum.
