A rendering of the project. Via DCCAH.Update: The project will not happen in the Anacostia. Via DCCAH: “After further consultation with the District’s Department of the Environment regarding the city’s on-going efforts to clean up the Anacostia River, including current toxicity testing, DCCAH is working with artist Mia Feuer for the proposed 5 X 5 artwork titled, Antediluvian, to relocate the temporary project outside of the Anacostia River and vicinity. We appreciate all the interest this project has received from members of the community.”
And here’s a statement from United for a Healthy Anacostia: “The United for a Healthy Anacostia River coalition commends today’s decision by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to relocate the ‘Antediluvian’ temporary art project outside of the Anacostia River. The announcement ensures that river restoration and cleanup efforts will continue without delay.
We wish artist Mia Feuer all the best and hope she finds a more suitable location for her installation.”
Original post
A coalition working to improve the condition of the Anacostia River has asked D.C. not to allow an artist to sink a replica gas station in the water as part of a city-sponsored project.
As part of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ 5×5 public art project, Mia Feuer plans to sink a “real-size replica of a gas station canopy” into Kingman Lake so it’s visible from the East Capitol Bridge. The goal is to make a statement about climate change, but United for a Healthy Anacostia says it’s possible the project will send the wrong message and harm perception of the river.
“While we understand and many of us appreciate the global climate change message that the artist is trying to deliver, we are unified in our view that sinking a gas station in the Anacostia is simply the wrong thing to do in 2014,” the coalition said in a letter to DCCAH executive director Lionell Thomas.
Given the many years of community investment and hard work to clean up and change the negative perception of the Anacostia River, this kind of project should never have been approved without broad stakeholder consultation. Moreover, in light of the decades of oil and gas pollution and environmental injustice to which the river and its nearby communities have been subjected, we believe that it is inappropriately heedless to encourage such a representation of oil and gas in the river’s waters. In this regard, there could hardly be a worse public message than sinking an entire mock gas station in the Anacostia’s waters.
If the public misunderstands the art’s intended message as permission to put gas or oil in the river, the project could single-handedly set back the river restoration and undo years of effort on the part of the DC, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County governments to convince people to keep oil out of the water.
“The floating gas station artwork, titled Antediluvian, is a temporary, contemporary public art concept of the 5×5 Project that is still under review,” DCCAH’s Thomas said in a statement. “As the DCCAH moved through the process of implementation, we learned from the community that there are environmental concerns. As responsible stewards, the DCCAH is working to address those concerns to ensure that we do not disturb the Anacostia River’s ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, Feuer is attempting to raise an additional $30,000 for the project through IndieGoGo. She’s raised just over $9,000 with 27 days left to fundraise.
My goal is to present an unforgettable image in the US Capital that captures our dangerous addiction to petroleum. I hope this piece can provoke dialogue amongst everyday citizens and policy-makers alike inspiring them to rethink and even transform attitudes and approaches to energy consumption and extraction.
Antediluvian Pitch Video V7 from miafeuer on Vimeo.
