Sculptor and installation artist Abigail DeVille shares the ideas and inspirations behind her latest public art commission in this short documentary from Art21 (previously featured here). Directed by Ian Forster, “Light of Freedom” captures the making of Deville’s large-scale scaffolded torch, with flames composed of dozens of blue mannequin arms, installed in New York City’s Madison Square Park. The piece was inspired by the Black Lives Matter marches of summer 2020, when waves of demonstrators hooked arm-in-arm to rally against racial injustice amidst the threat of a global pandemic. It also draws on layers of American history. Summoning the words of Frederick Douglas and the public display of the Statue of Liberty’s hand with torch in Madison Square Park from 1876 to 1882, DeVille’s work collapses the past with our turbulent present in the hopes of a better tomorrow.
Producer: Ian Forster
Interview: Ian Forster
Editor: Stephanie Andreou
Camera: Sean Hanley
Sound: Fivel Rothberg
Colorist: Jonah Greenstein
Sound Mix: Adam Boese
Music: Blue Dot Sessions
Additional Footage: John Mattiuzzi
Artwork Courtesy: Abigail DeVille and Madison Square Park Conservancy
Special Thanks: Brooke Kamin Rapaport, NYC Ferry, Pioneer Works, Tom Reidy
This video was submitted by Art21 and selected by our team. Click here if you have a project you’d like us to check out!
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