A dirt prism

A community of artists and entrepreneurs are using Kakaako to steward a new Hawaii renaissance.  Large industrial buildings covered with murals stretching over 20 feet high decorate the outside of creative work spaces, design studios, restaurants, florists and art galleries. Inside the ii (pronounced: double I) gallery, Sean Connelly presents us with a monolith made up of the island of Oahu and it is slowly falling apart. We are given a finite amount of time and it is for this reason you must see A Small Piece of Land now.

In the modest space a 7 foot x 9 foot x 4 foot rectangle of volcanic soil and coral sand rises from the concrete floor. These 16 tons of earth was taken from various locations across Oahu. Brown, red and yellow colors sit on top of each other allowing it to change from top to bottom. To achieve any of this, the artist, a group of volunteers and many borrowed tools erected the monolith into its shape over the course of several weeks.  I took part in the first stages of the construction by sifting and sorting dirt used in the sculpture. The dirt had to be cleaned of rock and root, broken down, mixed with sand and then transported by the barrow full into the gallery space. The mixture was placed into forms and tamped down so that when the forms were removed, the piece would stand in its abstract shape. On the mauka side, a corner sliced off on a diagonal plane creating an inverted trapezoid. The sculpture looks like an arbitrary geological cross section exposing its color, composition and quality.

However, the shape itself is not random. The diagonal plane is built to match the position of the moon on August 6 1850 while the top line runs parallel to the sunset on the same day. This relationship is intended by the sculpture’s creator. The Kuleana Act signed on August 6 1850 created a provision allowing Hawaiian commoners to petition for ownership of the small piece of land they cultivated or kuleana. This piece of legislation formalized private land ownership in the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Simply, pieces of land became a commodity.  The impact of the Kuleana Act is far-reaching; by taking a casual glance at current land issues in Hawaii anyone can find examples of the nation’s highest home prices, conflicts over native land ownership, and the potential farming of genetically modified foods. Connelly places the sculpture right at the middle of all of this.

By giving it an unnatural shape, Connelly changes the land into a product, like a cow turned into a steak. The amount of dirt in front of you is staggering. The piece is never the same from any angle of view and you will never see the same piece from day to day. I have watched Connelly’s piece change over the course of a week. Small cracks have become longer stretching around the entire face of the piece. Gravity and weight are causing more cracks to form and dirt falls on the floor. There is no hope of buying the piece and transporting it somewhere safe. The artist and gallery staff will struggle to keep it intact. And they will fail. There is no barrier between the viewer and the sculpture - anyone can reach out and touch it. But I am afraid to disturb the piece. I am afraid it will collapse and trap me beneath it.  I think about my hope of owning a home and I leave unsettled that I may never get that chance. I worry about the future development of Kakaako and I dread that the gallery will someday be a parking lot. This pile of dirt just stands waiting for the inevitable sledge hammer and gives me no answers. I know that it is ridiculous to expect this organized pile of dirt and sand to answer me. The dirt is neither person nor animal. It lacks the ability to feel and to think. The land used in Connelly’s piece is still only an object.

But an object changed. This being Connelly’s first exhibit, he has set the bar for himself very high. Connelly takes something as ubiquitous as the air we breathe and places it on display, not only as an architectural accomplishment, but as the physical manifestation of future possibilities. If pet rocks are already a reality, how odd would it be to own an acre of land in a box for your high rise apartment? One has to see the monolith up close. It is the only way to see the land perpetuated in front of our eyes.

Exhibit Info:
A Small Piece of Land: Kakaako Earth Room is on display from March 22nd to April 27th at the ii gallery located at 687 Auahi Street, Honolulu, HI 96813 (next to R/D and Morning Glass Coffee). Gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday, 7:00am to 6:00pm, Saturday 11:00am to 5:00pm, and Monday by appointment. Admission is Free. An artist talk and roundtable discussion will take place on April 3rd, 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Sculpture demolition and closing reception is Saturday April 27th from 5:30pm to 7:30p