SOS Color Code Exhibit Now Open at Haggerty Museum – Marquette Wire

The Haggerty Museum is showing SOS Color Code, an indoor and outdoor installation by Luftwerk, through December 21.

Chicago-based artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero said they were excited to bring their installation to the Haggerty Museum after working with Haggerty director John Mckinnon on an exhibition at the Elmhurst Art Museum in 2019.

According to Gallero, two aspects inspired the work: the outdoor flags they designed in collaboration with Normal Studio, a multidisciplinary graphic design firm based in Chicago and the idea of ​​color theory.

“We're playing with color theory and how you perceive colors and how the three lines and three dots create this SOS signal, which is a stress signal but also a call and response signal,” Gallero said.

In addition to their 2019 exhibition, Luftwerk also worked with McKinnon on the SOS Color Code flag installation at the Elmhurst Art Museum, so he said he was excited to see the flags again.

“The flag installation is a complete re-creation of a 2020 version. What you see at the Haggerty and the mural in the museum is actually a new version, so we've never created this particular work before,” Bachmaier said.

Luftwerk said they were inspired for this piece by the color theory of Johannes, a Swiss painter and designer, as well as the practice of color lighting.

“We were inspired by Itten and some of the comparative colors, but we also looked at color lighting and the composition of colors, which colors are mixed, which colors are subtracted and which colors are added,” Gallero said.

In selecting SOS Color Code for exhibition at the Haggerty, Mckinnon said he felt it was the perfect opportunity to showcase the artist's work during the 40th anniversary of the show.th Anniversary.

“I’m very optimistic and energized and hopeful that we can tell the story of the museum as we look back on these 40 years,” Mckinnon said.

Luftwerk also said they added a lighting component to the exhibition that glows in nine colors across the main wall of Haggerty's ground floor.

“It's a great symmetry where you have three parts out there and three parts in here and both are dashes and dots for Morse code,” said John Mckinnon, director of Haggerty Art Museum said.

This multi-visual artwork was originally exhibited in ten different art institutions across the United States in 2020 during the pandemic and election.

Bachmaier said they came up with the idea of ​​sending out an SOS signal to reach other places and people in times of need during the pandemic.

“With Normal we have this idea of ​​‘Oh, We were able to do a flag installation that could easily be transported and installed at other locations.' There was a real collaborative spirit between us and Normal,” Bachmaier said.

Not only was this exhibit significant during the pandemic and with its opening on International Democracy Day, but Luftwerk said they also wanted the flag to symbolize a call to empower Marquette students to vote in the upcoming election.

“I think it’s really important that young people feel like they can express their thoughts, concerns and opinions,” Bachmaier said. said.

After partnering with 10 institutions, Luftwerk said places like the Pittsburg Mattress Factory, the Minnesota Museum of American Art and the National Public Housing Museum showed their exhibitions as part of a call for solidarity.

“It's about a sense of unity, there's this universal language that can unite people in all different shapes and forms. It's not about identifying where or who you are, it's about communicating that there is a flag.. When you are in need, there is a place where you can find comfort and, in some way, humanity,” Gallero said.

Luftwerk said they are excited to highlight the exhibit as a universal art form for the Marquette campus.

“A lot comes out of a project like this, which is very gratifying. And when you see that there is an interaction between people and activities and a discourse that a project can trigger, that is the most beautiful thing you can get out of a project,” said Bachmaier.

The Haggerty Museum will host events related to this exhibition in the coming months in collaboration with Marquette Votes, the Marquette Art Club, and the Arrupe Center.

This story was written by Mimi Sinotte. She can be reached at [email protected].