Photo provided by the City of Alexandria
A rendering of 'Interstellar Influence'.
Alexandria’s newest public art installation will transport viewers to a distant past — 35 million years ago, to be exact. The sixth installation of the Site See series will be called Interstellar Influencer (Make an Impact), featuring an aluminum sculpture of the asteroid that collided with the Earth in the region that is now Alexandria.
The Site See series is in an area of Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street) that will only exist until the city completes flood mitigation measures that are needed, said Diane Ruggiero, deputy director of the city’s Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities department. The idea was to have temporary art in a temporary space that would engage the public and bring visitors to Alexandria.
The artists behind the Interstellar Influencer piece are Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang of the New York-based design company STUDIOKCA. Each year, the artist for the Site See installation is chosen by a task force that includes city employees and community stakeholders. The artists are chosen based on their body of work and whether they have a clear ability to create site-specific, large-scale pieces, Ruggiero said.
Photo by Grace Kenyon
In addition to checking these boxes, STUDIOKCA specializes in work that is particularly environmentally conscious. The sculpture will be made of recyclable materials and their creative philosophy includes exploring “the ways in which context and locality offer opportunities to design,” according to the studio’s website.
Clint Mansell is the director of Principle Gallery and has been on the Site See task force since its inception. He says this project is unique because it explores how one event, which occurred long before humans walked the earth, affects every aspect of our lives.
“Way before anyone even existed, the waterways, the mountains, every structure of the earth around this area, was changed. So that affected the way cities became and trade, travel and navigation,” Mansell said.
One of the goals for Ruggiero and the City of Alexandria team in charge of public art is to make the art interactive and accessible. This year, the installation will include LED lights and a light mist emanating from the sculpture, which they expect will be a welcome feature in the summer heat. Like past installations, Ruggiero said she hopes people will find ways to get close to the piece and interact with it.
“We make sure that the word accessible is literal in the way the artist is designing the work,” Ruggiero said. “We're not looking for people to see it from a distance, we're not looking to put barricades up around it.”
Mansell is eager to see Alexandria continue to expand its art offerings and agrees that art should be accessible. When it comes to public art, it's impossible to please everyone, but he hopes people will experience something new as the piece of art prompts them to think about what came before.
“People matter, but our experience changes when you think about how much has come before us, how much will probably come after us and how many people are in the world all having different experiences all at the same time,” Mansell said.
Interstellar Influencer (Make and Impact) will be unveiled later this month, with an opening celebration on March 23, and will be the newest feature of Waterfront Park until November.
