Dust to Dirge: An Earth Elegy

Dust to Dirge: An Earth Elegy

June 22 | 7 p.m.
Nov. 10 | 6:30 p.m.
Performance by Ashanti Chaplin and Gabriel Royal
Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery

In this meditative piece, Ashanti Chaplin unwrapped her ArtNow: The Soul Is a Wanderer work Earth Elegy, accompanied by an original score co-composed and performed with Gabriel Royal. Earth Elegy is an installation comprised of video, aural, sculptural and material impressions of the thirteen Historic Black Towns in Oklahoma: Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee and Vernon. Collaborating with community members and civic leader, Chaplin collected clay, soil, sound and video documentation from each town. The obelisk — an earthen element that references its ancient purpose of recording the history of a place — is made with clay collected from the thirteen towns.

Dust to Dirge: An Earth Elegy was presented in connection with ArtNow: The Soul Is a Wanderer, on view in the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery.

Watch an interview with Ashanti Chaplin and Gabriel Royal, including clips of the performance, below.