Performance: Kite in Tower Grove Park

Kite has created a major outdoor installation at Tower Grove Park composed of boulders and plantings arranged according to Lakȟóta geometric symbols. These include symbols for nonhuman beings, understood as cosmic forces, such as earth, lightning, and thunder, signifying the ontological status of forces more powerful than humans in this world. The patterns in Kite’s new work draw from a visual lexicon adapted from Lakȟóta quillwork and beadwork held in St. Louis collections, in which abstract symbols carry layered semiotic meanings and reference celestial maps, embroidery, and other cultural signifiers that remain partially illegible to non-Native viewers.

Artist Kite and local musicians will perform the graphic score for Wíhaŋyablapi (of St. Louis),  a major outdoor sculpture in Tower Grove Park.

Kite is an Oglála Lakȟóta artist, composer, performer, and scholar whose practice spans composition, wearable items, machine learning, and sculpture. Wíhaŋyablapi (of St. Louis) is composed of boulders and plantings arranged according to Lakȟóta geometric symbols. The artwork was developed through an intensive dream workshop in St. Louis led by Kite. Participants’ dreams were translated and arranged into Lakȟóta geometric symbols that reference the infinitely repeating patterns of Lakȟóta cosmology. Symbols include nonhuman beings, such as earth, lightning, and thunder, signaling forces more powerful than humans. Patterns in the work draw from a visual language adapted from Lakȟóta quillwork and beadwork held in St. Louis collections.The sculpture is also a graphic score for musicians, open to improvisational activation and interpretation.

The location will be shared in advance of the performance. The run time is under 30 minutes.

To RSVP, please complete the Opening Weekend registration form.