BElonging
Handblown glass, laser-cut paper, directional dome speaker, audio recordings, interactive elements
September 27 - December 8, 2024
Georgetown University De La Cruz Art Gallery, Washington DC

Curated by Dr. Vesela Sretenović

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"Tell us a time that someone's action made you feel that you belonged."

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BElonging is a site-relevant, interactive audio-sculpture. It began with a prompt of "tell us a time that someone's action made you feel that you belonged." We recorded and edited 100 stories, from more than 50 people from Washington DC community members, including those from Georgetown University and Howard Universities.

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Each story is a reflection on a shared commonality across our diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, age groups, genders, geographical origins, and life experiences, weaving a complex and interconnected portrait of our society. 

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A motion-sensored dome, comprised of 360 pieces of handblown glass, laser-cut paper and speaker, creates an intimate embrace, where visitors are invited to enter and listen to personal accounts of simple gestures of kindness or meaningful acts of connection in the heroic acts of community building. 

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Handblown glass pieces represent singular individuals that make up the whole of a community. The black paper bears laser-cut images of a Rorschach calligraphic drawing of the word 归, Chinese for belong or return.

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This installation is the third project in my series of works involving oral history. 

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Audio sound engineer and editor: Brendan Canty
Creative technology director: Guillermo Acevedo​​

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