April 24 : Pittsburgh Biennial

April 24, mixed media, video, sound, 2011

April 24 was part of the 2011 Pittsburgh Biennial shown at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts with funding made possible by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

April 24 investigates the final parting between Sir Ernest Shackleton accompanied by five chosen men and his remaining 22 crewmembers, who were left on Elephant Island in the early winter of 1916 during the Imperial TransAntarctic Expedition.

After our last night on solid ground:

It is the movement of a goodbye,
(the severing of a mooring line, two ships together tied)
and the swell causes difficultly,
it is the great heave of the sea.

An island full of pausing,
(a white handkerchief, too much by five hundred weight)
as an oar, held out,
separates men from boats.

The final gift is brief words,
(in the event of our failures, gaze towards northeast)
anchored as mindful patterns,
while the tide returns again.

Soon clear of the breakers,
(sails set against grim heights, a line of dark figures)
all is blanketed by delay.
Look out, and linger.

So look out, and wait.