Britt Ransom | Pitzer College Art Galleries
Multigraph photographic portrait of Emma Ransom, the artist’s great-great grandmother. Image courtesy of the artist.
Britt Ransom: ARise and seek
Pitzer College Art Galleries
January 28, 2023 — MARCH 25, 2023Introduction
Britt Ransom: Arise and Seek
“The spirit of John Brown beckons us to arise and seek the recovery of our rights, which our enemy, has sought forever to destroy” – Reverdy C. Ransom
The sculptural practice of Britt Ransom explores the transformation of data and material through digital fabrication processes such as 3D scanning, 3D printing, laser cutting, and computer-controlled milling. While earlier works have employed these methods to analyze human, animal, and environmental relationships, Arise and Seek utilizes them to examine the artist’s familial history and its links to the Civil Rights movement in the early twentieth century. In doing so, Ransom connects her earlier work on hierarchies of power between human and non-human agents to other systems of oppression that perpetuate structural racism and violence against people of color.
Arise and Seek begins with a speech given in 1906 by the artist’s great-great grandfather Reverdy C. Ransom. Titled “The Spirit of John Brown,” the lecture was delivered at the second meeting of the Niagara Movement, a precursor to the NAACP. This meeting, and Ransom’s speech, were key catalysts in the early fight for Civil Rights in the United States. More than 100 years later, the artist examines this history and its impact on the present through the visual language of racist monuments, historic site plaques, and excerpts from her great-great grandfather’s other speeches. Functioning as a familial archive, the exhibition documents Reverdy C. Ransom’s sixty-year career of civil rights activism and leadership in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in partnership with his second wife (and the artist’s great-great grandmother), Emma. By inserting herself into this narrative, the artist underscores the significance of this critical history and affirms the linkage between the past and the present.
Arise and Seek includes sculptural references to the Tawawa Chimney Corner House, in Wilberforce, Ohio. Originally home to Civil Rights activist Bishop Benjamin Arnett, the nationally registered site became the cornerstone of Reverdy and Emma’s activism, bringing them in contact with key activists of the day including W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, and Jane Adams as well as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A portrait of Emma is presented as a multigraph—an early photography technique that used mirrors to capture a sitter’s image multiple times. Incorporating the viewer in the image, this technology is adopted by the artist to implicate audiences in the struggle for civil rights and to highlight the cyclical history of inequality.
This is both the artist and Pitzer College Art Galleries’ first Climate Impact Report. The report was prepared by the artist, and also engaged the fabricators.
Image credit: Christopher Wormwald
Carbon Emissions:
Air Travel: 0.87 tCO2e
The artist completed 1 round trip flight from the Pittsburgh International Airport (Pittsburgh, PA) to Long Beach Airport (Long Beach, California)
This is equivalent to:
2160 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
963 pounds of coal burned
Vehicle Transportation during Installation: 0.21 tCO2e
The artist completed 7 round trips from Long Beach, CA to Claremont, CA during the installation period.
This is equivalent to:
521 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
232 pounds of coal burned
Artwork Shipping and Transportation: 0.91 tCO2e
9 out of 10 artworks were shipped from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Claremont, California
This accounted for .89 tCO2e.
This is equivalent to:
2,209 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
985 pounds of coal burned
1 out of 10 artworks, which was large and heavy, was fabricated locally from recycled material to save on shipping cost and energy. This piece was produced in Long Beach, CA and driven to Claremont, CA.
This accounted for .02 tCO2e.
This is equivalent to:
49 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
22.1 pounds of coal burned
All emissions calculated using: https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx
Waste Report
All packaging for shipping the artwork will be re-used for its return back to the artist. On the second floor mezzanine, there was a timeline that was originally planned to be created using vinyl; and instead images were printed in-house on an inkjet printer on paper that can be recycled. Traditional vinyl was used for the exhibition text and custom wallpaper was created for two large walls of the exhibition; these items will not be able to be re-used or recycled. One piece from the exhibition (the largest element) was produced in Long Beach and was made out of donated, recycled high density foam to cut down on the cost and waste of materials and to reduce shipping processes given the size and weight of this object.
Estimate waste of plastic waste, like wall vinyls, plexi cases, bubble wrap, water bottles, etc.: 85.0 lbs
Estimate waste of other/general waste generated by the project: 40.00 lbs
Reuse: to be reused for the same purpose as the original use
7 artworks transport boxes
Artwork packaging (bubble wrap, foam, fabric)
Recycle: items placed in the recycling bin
Empty recyclable consumable packaging (aluminum cans, glass bottles from opening reception)
Landfill: items sent to a landfill
Painters tape (quantity unknown)
Wall vinyl
Donated high density foam sheet donated by a company in Long Beach, CA. Milled in LA county to save on shipping costs. Image courtesy of the artist.
Supporting People
The project team made an effort to:
Created spaces free of racism, harassment and other forms of inequity for our team.
Prioritized working with small, cooperatively-owned, under-represented, and/or local businesses
Other actions taken
The project team consisted of:
Number of Artists: 1
Curator: 1
Pitzer Galleries Support Staff: 1
Installation Staff: 1 lead installer 2 additional assistants
Pitzer College Support Communication Staff: 2
Collective Action
The project completed a Climate Impact Report to share with the Artists Commit community.
The artist generated this report as a way to understand the environmental impact of shipping a large solo exhibition cross country and sees this as a valuable tool moving forward to assess climate effects.
Additional Thoughts
This process was really insightful in terms of the impact particularly related to shipping costs and material types used for work production. Completing a climate impact report was enlightening in reconsidering production and packing methods for work that has to travel long distances.
Completing this report has provided the artist with a new understanding of the environmental cost of producing works at a large scale at a distance from the exhibition venue and found this to be a very valuable and necessary framework to do a detailed evaluation of not only the materials used to produce the work but also to prioritize making improvements to shipping and transportation of the work.
Mezzanine timeline that was painted and images printed on paper instead of creating this out of vinyl. Image courtesy of the artist.
Exhibition Info and Credits
This report was generated by the artist Britt Ransom based on a template available at Artist Commit. Britt Ransom: Arise and Seek was curated by Ciara Ennis and was supported by Pitzer College Staff Christopher Michno, Michal Wisinowski, Christy Johnson, Margaret Crane, well as student assistants.
Exhibition link: https://www.pitzer.edu/galleries/britt-ransom-arise-and-seek/
Thanks to Artists Commit mentor Debra Scacco for supporting the creation of the report.