Hereafter

Hereafter is a term that raises the notion of change within space and time simultaneously. It means both the future to come and life after death. The figure in workers overalls represents labor in general but also the artist’s labor – the signature of the x – their anonymous mark. What is the artists role in creating the hereafter? The water is the depths of what we have done and where and who we have been.

The image recalls the famous saying by Heraclitus that “you can never step in the same river twice.” The Mississippi River’s waters are always flowing and so you are literally always stepping into different waters. Humans also change over time. This leads to the conclusion that the only constant is change. There is no moral judgement because change itself is neither good or bad. What is designated as good or bad always changes. This thinking of flux as the centre of life is also fitting with Anishinaabe (the artist and curator are both Anishinaabe) philosophy. When we think about the histories of St. Louis and the changes from this land and water being clean and cared for by Indigenous People, to early colonial industrialists creating fortunes, urbanization and pollution then today. In the hereafter there is a new dream for labor and city life to account for the freedom of all people to live without violence and oppression and for the river to heal.

Courtesy of the artist.