The University of Southern Indiana New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art (NHGCA) is proud to present Christopher Blay’s temporary public art project, Signals and Satellites to the AncesStars, on view in New Harmony, Indiana, at Maclure Square through August. Situated at Church and Main streets, the installation forms a dialogue with the layered histories present along the shores of the Wabash River and New Harmony. Composed of mixed media including steel and bamboo, the work evokes the origin myths of the Osage and Myaamia nations who originally inhabited land in present-day Indiana and believed that their ancestors emerged from the celestial sky and from bodies of water.
The sculpture also pays homage to the early Black pioneers arriving in this area in the early 19th century in what was then the Northwest Territory, as these early homesteaders often navigated trails by starlight. This sculptural installation forms a satellite array made from steel and natural materials that “beams” out layered narratives invoking regional history.
Materials and motifs in the installation span past, present, and future, while water, spirit, technology and the celestial emerge as key elements throughout the composition. The central shape of a “Nitien,” an object made of brass that has four knobs, references the artist’s own tribe: the Kru people of present-day Liberia, who believe it to hold the divine power of water. The motif also honors the oral histories and origin traditions of the Kru people who arrived to settle the West African coast from the rough waters. During the Owen – Maclure experiment (1825–27) in New Harmony, which is currently celebrating its bicentennial, several preeminent scientists and educators arrived here by water on the “Boatload of Knowledge.”
The installation also references the “Golden Record” sent out in the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecrafts in 1977: a golden disc with data holding a message in a bottle from Earth’s residents to potential extraterrestrial life forms. This may be seen as echoing the Harmonie Society’s symbol of the Golden Rose, a marker of promise taken from early Martin Luther scripture found in the Bible’s Book of Micah that became an enduring symbol from when the Society arrived here in 1814 through to the present day.
New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art Curator Audra Verona Lambert reflects on the temporary installation. “Christopher Blay’s Signals and Satellites to the AncesStars coalesces aspects of layered histories that build New Harmony and Southwest Indiana as we know it today from a nuanced perspective that invites curiosity about the cultures that are present in the landscape, place names and topographies around us—both Earth-bound and celestial. The artwork brings clever approaches to information gathering to the USI community and the wider audience located in and around Vanderburgh and Posey Counties.”
Artist Christopher Blay is a Liberian American artist who lives and works in Fort Worth, Texas. His Nyesoa, Nitien, and the Alpine Stars video commission, SpLaVCe Ship sculpture and other works are on view through June 8 at Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas. Blay’s work, SpLaVCe Ship, received honorable mention at the 2023 Grand Rapids Art Prize, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
This project is presented by the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art with generous support from the Efroymson Family Fund and Connie Weinzapfel.
