Kara Walker: Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)

Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)

A Respite for the Weary Time-Traveler.

Featuring a Rite of Ancient Intelligence Carried out by The Gardeners

Toward the Continued Improvement of the Human Specious

by

Kara E-Walker

Kara Walker has long been recognized for her incisive examinations of the dynamics of power and the exploitation of race and sexuality. Her work leverages expressions of fantasy and humor to confront troubling histories and dominant narratives, repossessing control in the process. Inspired by a wide range of sources, from antique dolls to Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, Walker’s new commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), considers the memorialization of trauma, the objectives of technology, and the possibilities of transforming the negative energies that plague contemporary society. Here, automatons trapped in a never-ending cycle of ritual and struggle are repositories of the human soul. They recall mechanized medieval icons that evidenced divinity, vitality, and the promise of faith. Situated within an energetically charged field of black obsidian from Mt. Konocti in Lake County — a volcanic glass with deep spiritual properties — Walker’s Gardeners evoke wonder, reflection, respite, and hope. Just past this prophetic vignette, the installation’s namesake, Fortuna, responds to each visitor with a choreographed gesture and a printed fortune fresh from her mouth — an offering of absolution and contemplation.

This exhibition will be closed from Tuesday, February 10–Thursday, February 12 for scheduled maintenance.

Experience Kara Walker’s new commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), which considers the memorialization of trauma, the objectives of technology, and the possibilities of transforming the negative energies that plague contemporary society. Watch the processes and experiments that drive Walker’s newest public work and discover its connections to the cultural history of the Bay Area.

Special Thanks: Kara Walker Studio

Design: Kara Walker and Mike Koller

In-house fabrication: Justice Thomas

Project management: Petra Schmidt

Registration: Allison Calhoun

Exhibition Production

Technical lead: Noah Feehan

Automata design and build: Hypersonic

Costume design: Gary Graham

Furniture fabrication: New Project

Upholstery: Stitchroom

Excavation: Broderick General Engineering