Mining in the Musuem

"Women Entranced by the Beat" - Katelyn White and Jenny Moran 2010

This installation piece, "Woman Entranced by the Beat", was created through the various works of Lelooska, Randolph Rogers, Walter Dorwin Teague. This installation is to represent the typical mythological woman in a time of despair. However, this woman is saved by the entrancing beats of hip-hop music in company with Native American homeland.

Each piece in this installation is created through various mediums, including: wood, marble, mirrored glass, chrome, and electrical components. Creating an installation with pieces from time periods so greatly spaced apart, gives the piece a worldly view on society and past and present cultures. This can be related to America, and the concept of the "melting pot". This metaphor explains how American society is becoming a blend of cultures and elasticities. These different elements mix together into a harmonious whole with a common culture.

Randolph Rogers, "The Lost Pleiad", is a marble statue dating back to 1874. This American artist created a statue representing 1 of the 7 daughters of the God, Atlas. As mythological legend has it, this unearthly daughter married a mortal and forever had to hide herself in shame. This semi-nude figure is shown in a movement pose which is to represent the daughter in search of her heavenly family.

Walter Dorwin Teague, used modernism to create a elaborate radio constructed from mirrored glass, chrome, painted wood, and various electrical components. The interesting concept behind this piece was that Dorwin Teague used Sparton Corporation, deriving out of the heart of Jackson, Michigan, to manufacture this modern piece. A new form of art was being created, the artist no longer had to craft the art in order to claim the piece as his own.

Chief Lelooska, a master story teller, created "House Screen" in the 1960's to represent a creationist story. This wood pigment carving on a complex canvas was to be used as a house screen for a room partition. The raven shown on the wood canvas is believed to have been the creator of the land and seas.

Placing the images in the fashion that the artists, Katelyn White and Jenny Moran, had done, allowed for the story of the installation to be obviously and directly translated to the viewer. The wooden Native American screen acts as a backdrop for the focal point pieces, the marble statue and the modern radio. The backdrop serves as a mood setting device for the piece. The female marble statue holds the radio in tightly to her ear so that the music can posses her soul and take her to a land far away into the imaginary. Music has the power to embody the soul and a particular culture. The tribal images on the wooden screen are representational of the beat the woman is entranced by.

In addition to the piece being seen as a commentary to music, it can also speak to how far the human race has come with technology. In the 1800's, brass and percussion were the main source of music. Whilst in the early 1900's , sheet music was becoming more affordable in America and the jam band period had arrived. Happy times and happy music had come full force! Later in the 1900's jazz, swing, and country music had become some of the most popular genres of music. The piece speaks for the growth of music and the various types of cultures associated with the movement of music.




all pieces derived from the Minneapolis institute of Arts.

Rogers, Randolph. "The Lost Pleiad" 1874 marble
Lelooska. "House Screen" 1960's wood pigment carvings on complex canvas
Dorwin Teague, Walter. "Nocturne" c. 1937 mirrored glass, chrome, painted wood, electrical components