A visual exploration of Cle’s Crooked River
By John Benson
Cleveland gallery SPACES marks the return of New York artist Margaret Cogswell with a special kickoff affair Fri 2/3 at the Superior Viaduct venue.
The timing of the event is also to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the SPACES World Artists Program (SWAP), in which Cogswell was its third artist-in-residence. In 2003 she created Cuyahoga River Fugues, a haunting mixed-media installation that wove together stories gathered from steel workers, environmentalists, fishermen, historians and city planners whose lives had indelibly intersected with the crooked river.
Now Cogswell returns for her second residency at SPACES with Cuyahoga Fugues Revisited. She’s revisiting the river that for the last decade led her to explore the vital and increasingly politicized role of waterways throughout the world. For her work she was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Cool Cleveland talked to SPACES Executive Director Christopher Lynn about Cogswell’s series of drawings and a mixed-media installation based on video footage taken at the steel mills and along the Cuyahoga River.
Cool Cleveland: Tell us about Cuyahoga Fugues Revisited.
Christopher Lynn: It’s kind of basically an evolution of the overall project. It’s new video, it’s a new installation, but it’s also kind of the state of the river and the ecosystems around it. One of the newer pieces she’s done is with a green drum that has video. She’s utilizing some of these same components because usually around rivers and these various areas like the Mississippi or some of the foreign rivers, there’s always some type of industry that’s built nearby because they always relied upon shipping lanes. So they utilized the rivers to get into larger bodies of water, oceans or lakes or whatever. There’s always this kind of industrial component and the video tends to be a little bit more organic-looking because it’s footage of the rivers and some of the things going on around.
What will Cogswell be talking about in her lecture?
It’s kind of this investigation into the overall ecology of the rivers, not just the environmental but the social, economic and everything around that. Her lecture is going to touch on some of those past projects and how this project has evolved. She’s also bringing back some of the people she spoke to nine years ago. We have a local historian [and] some people who dealt with environmental issues around here.
What role did the Cuyahoga River play for Cogswell?
The Cuyahoga River was a good starting point, just because it was a flashpoint for a lot of things, such as the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]. Cleveland’s identity is tied to that. We do have a unique ecology but she’s just not all about the burning river. That was 40-plus years ago. So, it’s more of a snapshot of what’s going on now. I don’t know that many locals are aware of everything that goes on, especially larger projects. So, it’s just a nice window into a lot of these aspects dealing with the river. It’s a good way to get educated in that regard.
Is there a clear-cut message behind Cuyahoga Fugues Revisited?
I think it’s a way to raise awareness and education about some of these issues. Not only the environmental ecology but just kind of the economic health of the river area. And especially around here in Cleveland, the river is down below. It’s off people’s radar. Most people don’t drive around The Flats – near the river – if ever. So I hope they take away good questions.
Cuyahoga Fugues Revisited will be on exhibit from Fri 2/3 to Fri 3/30 at SPACES, 2220 Superior Viaduct, Cleveland. A special opening reception takes place at 6PM on Fri 2/3, followed by the exhibit’s opening. Gallery hours normally are 12 to 5PM Tue through Sun; 12 to 8PM Thu; and closed on Monday. Call 216-621-2314 or visit http://SPACESgallery.org.
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio.When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.