Flesh of Bradenton
2023
Images of Excavation Evidences from Looking for Angola Project on table napkins, found objects from streets of Sarasota
Carefully assembled on clean paper napkins are found objects from the surface of the streets and prints of artifacts from beneath the surface of the ground. Assembling images of artifacts from underneath the ground with found objects from the surface of the ground is a gesture to retrieve all memories remembered by the flesh and skin of the soil. The work accompanied by an audio piece is a continuation of the community’s dialogue around lost local history in this specific location.
From one centimeter to two, and further, down the soil, physical fragments reemerged. The pearlware sherds, Kaolin Pipes, and Coins among other objects found through the excavation project, Looking for Angola, led by The New Town Alive and Uzi Baram from New College of Florida confirms the existence of this lost community which had been forgotten from the history of the land. In Flesh of Bradenton, images of found fragments were digitally placed on the ground in google street views and printed on soft table napkins. These objects which withstand erosion through time are now presented on a fragile surface.
This fragility was rendered to remind viewers of the ephemerality of the physical world. While the fragments were unearthed with the consistent determination of local resident excavators, community leaders, and archeology researchers, a few were rescued from the ground which is now reconstructed into a public park to compensate for the green space ratio in the town when a few condominium projects were initiated. The site is now permanently sealed from any future excavation and reclamations of the lost history.