The Battle is Joined, 2017

Monument Lab, Mural Arts, Public art commission, Vernon Park, Philadelphia, PA, 2017. 

Mirrored acrylic, plywood, studs. h. 20 ft. w. 14 ft. d. 5.5 ft. 

I concealed the Battle of Germantown Memorial with a mirrored acrylic structure. I “initiated” a conversation between two monuments in the park—Pastorius Monument, which honors Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German settler who led the first Quaker protest against slavery in 1688, and the Battle of Germantown Memorial, honoring a failed George Washington-led revolutionary war battle. The Pastorius Monument was boxed over during WW I and II because the look of the monument was perceived to be “too Germanic.” I thought about the paradox of an immigrant (Pastorius), fighting for blacks’ freedom from slavery, and Washington, who was fighting for the freedom of America from British rule while owning slaves. I replicated the previous concealment, transcribing it to the Battle Memorial. A mirrored facade was adhered, reflecting in real-time the present day viewers and the ever changing landscape. The mirror reflected the neighborhood’s current demographic, which is predominantly African American (it was once a German immigrant stronghold). The mirror encasement made the structure “disappear” from varying vantage points, participating directly in the ongoing debate on the removal of Confederate monuments. As one approached the piece, it transitioned from being invisible to being larger than life. Up close, seeing our own reflections, we acknowledge our literal presence and the fact that we, in essence, become the monument. I hoped to summon what was hidden and spotlight a community (a neighborhood with one of the highest poverty rates in Philadelphia) in all of its beauty.