TOTEM FOR HUMANITY – Tree of life at ACF NYC
Lets celebrate the end of darkness and the beginning of light! On view till January 14th 2024.
Totem for Humanity – Tree of life, Site-specific art installation by Eva Petric created for ACF NYC- Austrian Culture Forum New York City, to celebrate the ending of the old year and beginning of the new year and all that this resonates with, collectively and cross culturally, is on view at the ACF NYC Vestibule, 11 East 52nd St. New York, since yesterday till January 14, 2024.. …and every year thereafter to celebrate the many holidays around the world that join us together in celebrating the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new year.
It is a multi-part work made of pieces of lace and other materials commissioned by the ACFNY to inaugurate the New York Holiday Season which also includes laces from the Austrian ACF community, having been collected through an open call in summer.
Eva would especially like to thank Ms. Maria Koenigin, Peter and Sasha Kampfer, Gabriela and Richard Reidl Pirolt for the donated laces from their family heritage. Thank you to everyone who attended Friday’s inauguration of „Totem for Humanity – Tree of Life” created especially for the Austrian Culture Forum. Special thanks go to the director of ACF New York Susanne Keppler Schlesinger for initiating this project and open call and to Stephanie Buchmann , head of Visual Arts, Architecture and Design for her very valuable guidance and for making this project a reality, as well as the rest of the ACF team for their wonderful help and collaboration.
Last but not least, thank you also to amazing installers Gerry (Gerhard) and Michael without whom Totem for Humanity would not be growing from ACF‘s roots upwards and onwards! Thank you also Valentina Funes Rainer for her communication and organization.
Totem for Humanity – Tree of Life serves as an emotional anchor, evoking strong reactions through its intricately crafted, hand-made lace parts that contain recycled stories.
Its appearance, reminiscent of ancient natural forms, carries a touch of futurism in its hybrid quality. The totem strives to establish a universal symbolic language, expressing not only human-made patterns but also referencing nature’s universal language of geometry and intricate patterns found in all life forms.
It symbolizes a connection to the web of life, of which we are an integral part.
Overall, it is a celebration of life’s uniqueness and the profound miracle it represents. It emphasizes the importance of not taking life for granted but rather caring for and cherishing it.
Mirroring the shared values inherent in the miracle of life for all beings on Earth, the artwork incorporates symbols and values common to all cultures, beliefs, and religions. Positioned as a Totem for Humanity, it symbolizes the marvel of life on our planet, urging us to care for it collectively.
It celebrates the transition from darkness to light, while inviting a resonance of symbols from diverse cultures, creating a multi-layered motif that serves as a hybrid of human and environmental symbols. It is resonating with a frequency of compassion essential in today’s world and the upcoming new year
The Giver and The Keeper of Happiness represent the hope to overcome darkness with light—both within ourselves and within society, fostering positive relations on all levels, from our individual private lives to the realm of politics; an aspiration to transcend exaggerated individualism and open the door to empathy in every life.
A realization that we are interconnected and interdependent, much like the individual threads in my lace assemblages: when one thread tears, the resonance affects all threads in the lace assembly.
Kindly invited to see the Totem for Humanity – Tree of light at the Raimund Abraham’s vestibule of the unique ACF NYC building on11 East 52nd St. New York. Wishing you to begin this years holiday season with the awareness that we are all part of a global web – when one thread breaks, all the threads resonate!
