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Post Ike Cameron Louisiana
Post Ike Cameron LouisianaOtis LucasMarch 8 April 5 2009The collaborative artist duo Otis Lucas Patrick Xavier Bresnan and Ivete Lucas documents in a multitude of media the recuperative efforts to rebuild a community after the devastation of catastrophe. The artists spent a month in Cameron Louisiana working with the Mennonite Disaster Service to rebuild homes for victims of Hurricane Ike. The photographs sound pieces and videos detail with startling frankness the post disaster landscape and provide an intimate view into a Mennonite community of rebuilding volunteers.A comprehensive installation of their efforts is on display in the gallery. Many of the works show the activities of the old order Mennonites a religious sect that traditionally shuns photography. The artists show this community at work and at playdealing cards wielding hammers on the job site and praying. A central motif of the exhibition is that of the kitchen. While Patrick directed the building activity Ivete cooked three meals a day for the volunteers. Kitchen in this context acts as the site of the recovery process both through the sustenance that food provides and the community that sharing a meal creates.
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