Emergence

By Rachel Parish

Emergence: a process of coming into view or becoming exposed after being concealed

Hidden beneath Atlanta lies a system of waterways upon which the constantly developing city of Atlanta relies.  With the project Emergence, Rachel Parish will present a series of temporary monuments to the four spring heads that lie directly beneath Downtown Atlanta and feed the region’s vital, life-sustaining rivers and creeks.

The above ground sites of these spring heads are host to some of Atlanta’s key civic and public institutions, including a hospital, a government building, a former church, and a transit station.

• Grady Hospital – Jessie Hill, Jr. Drive and Armstrong Street (map + directions)
• Georgia State Capitol – Georgia Plaza Park (across Washington Street from the State Capitol) (map + directions)
• The Tabernacle – Williams Street & Andrew Young Boulevard (site is the parking lot across the street) (map + directions)
• The Gulch – Alongside the MARTA Five Points Station (Forsyth Street side) (map + directions)

Emergence will feature sound and sculptural installations at the above-ground sites of these spring heads, daily performances, and an evening video projection.

By illuminating the “birthplaces” of Atlanta’s waterways, Emergence will offer the public the opportunity to collectively consider the power of the natural ecology upon which Atlanta has been built and the continued presence of the life-springs that support the land upon which the city’s residents live their lives.

Photo: Julie Yarbrough Photography

FLOW

With Emergence, Flux Projects launches FLOW, a multi-year series designed to explore Atlanta’s history with water, how it has shaped our city and the potential it holds for our future. FLOW engages issues of conservation, equity, and urban design through installations and performances around the city.

The Extension podcast

Rachel Parish chats with Floyd Hall about the origins of her creative practice, her earliest connections to water, and how those notions inform the origins of her forthcoming project Emergence.

About the Artist

An Atlanta-based interdisciplinary artist, Rachel Parish works with diverse ecologies of collaborators, including humans, non-humans, and their histories.  Whether creating performances in London, developing art-based compassion trainings with the NYPD’s Hostage Negotiation Team, or designing creative placemaking programs in Atlanta, her work draws from conceptual and social practice, bringing together complex and often divided communities to guide them through collaborative co-creative processes.

Parish’s visual and performance art has been shown at venues internationally including Tate Britain, de Young Museum, Lyric Hammersmith, Battersea Arts Centre, and the Woodruff Art Center, as well as in public spaces such as train stations, community centers, homes for the elderly, streets, and in schools.

Currently, Parish uses ceramics, weaving, painting and plants to create spaces for live and imagined exchange.  Recently named the Inaugural Artist in Residence at Vlerick Business School in Belgium, she will use collaborative weaving and public drawing processes to work with the faculty in developing fluency with multi-sensory listening practices.

See Also

Article by Isadora Pennington for Atlanta Intown

Article by Hannah E. Jones for the Saporta Report

Support

Emergence is presented in conjunction with the City of Atlanta’s ELEVATE festival and sponsored in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.