Installations
PEACE ALTAR
UC Berkeley International House
April 2011
In April 2011, Yasmin Lambie-Simpson was invited to participate in the Annual International House Spring Festival; a celebration of cultures at UC Berkeley International House.
It was the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps and many countries were represented by their consulates; there were performances on three different stages, children’s activities and food booths from around the world. It was also UC Berkeley’s Open House.
Yasmin created a Peace Altar with bamboo poles she had cut from a plot of land. She had students help make hundreds of cranes over a period of 2 months, while talking about their dreams for what came next after college, their hopes for a peaceful world and why cranes are a sign of peace.
Yasmin made a map of the world and used peat for the earth and glass stones for the water. She created a cozy space under a tent and invited people in to write their messages for the earth, global understanding and how to heal the earth.
It was a beautiful day and people took time to pause through the excitement and many activities to come and sit for a moment to reflect on their dreams and to leave their prayers for the earth.
SHEDDING
Red Door Gallery and Collective
Oakland, CA
July 2009
In July 2009, Yasmin Lambie-Simpson collaborated with Kim Capisano on an installation named Shedding.
Together they created a meditative space for participants to give and receive - to shed what they needed to release, whether it was negative energy from a bad relationship, work, family or life in general.
Participants were invited to leave their angst in written form inside a bowl. Kim and Yasmin had created positive messages, beautifully written on paper tear drops, that participants were able to take randomly from another bowl. Kim and Yasmin then respectfully took a pause to burn and let loose the negativity that others wanted released at the conclusion of the exhibition.
The hanging prepainted papers were "painted" in a dance of movement and gestures by Kim and Yasmin as they released the stress of the day. On the ground was shredded copies of Kim’s thesis that one had to wade through to get to the bowls to release and receive messages.
The back wall was covered by a cloth that Yasmin painted with bleach to release the original color, behind which Kim had installed a recording of water slowly dripping. The tear drops hanging down were delicate representations of the vulnerability of people and the tears that helps to wash away the pain.
Kim and Yasmin invited artists to also submit art pieces in the theme of Shedding that they curated in the gallery. There were performances and poetry readings at the reception and a wonderful celebration of release and an acceptance of life’s cycle.
