Village Savant™

gallery statement…

Last Fall, when I invited Tucker to show his work at Mission 17, he proposed converting the gallery into an “earthquake prevention center.” We discussed the installation as the combination of a think-tank, a dreamscape, and the ravings of desperately isolated, half-mad individual, dead-set on attempting the impossible. The project had been inspired in part by Tucker’s work campaigning in the recent presidential election, but promised to address broader issues concerning hope, fear, powerlessness, and fate. Tucker spoke about the desire to prevent earthquakes as both beautiful and ridiculous. He wanted to address experiences of vulnerability, to connect them to the promises and problems of social life, and ultimately to examine the nature of political and religious illusions.

Then the tsunami hit Southeast Asia.

The horror of this catastrophe was overwhelming, and we considered cancelling the show. With time and further discussion, however, we came to see the original motivations for the project as now all the more compelling. How does tragedy bind us together? How do social-conflicts exacerbate natural disasters? What is the place of compassion in our fragmented modern world? What fear and vanity inform the questions asked on television news programs: “could this happen to us?” and “how can it be prevented?”

We hope this show might provide the opportunity to begin addressing the experience of this disaster, to work through some of its sadness and terror, and in the process to better understand ourselves, our relationships with one another, and the fragile wonder and absurdity of our place in the world.

Mission 17
2111 Mission St. #401
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.336.2349
info@mission17.com
www.mission17.com

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