Gulf, A 911 Windows Installation
Displaying Artifacts and Visual Reminders of a Place in Metamorphosis
Heather Dew Oaksen
June 12 - July 31, 1998

Gulf, a 911 Windows installation by artist Heather Dew Oaksen, was a site-specific part of a larger exhibition titled Here and There presented by CoCA (Center on Contemporary Art) June 12 - July 31. The exhibition showcased the work of a collaborative group of ten Seattle-based visual artists who worked in various Seattle area neighborhoods to produce artwork that responded to local conditions. Each artist worked alongside community members for several weeks - the resulting works were installed in their location of creation (“there”) and at CoCA (“here”).

Gulf explored the individual nature of deep personal connections - focusing on the lives of 10 teenagers during incarceration at a maximum-security juvenile correction facility and throughout the four years following their release. Heather Dew Oaksen’s media installations at two separate sites provided an opportunity to present the subject matter in two different forms. Her public installation at 911 Media Arts Centers’ previous location on Yale Avenue was visible from dusk ’til dawn from the street as large-scale video portraits projected onto the storefront windows. An accompanying media installation at CoCA (65 Cedar Street in Belltown) explored the content in a more private setting.

Heather Dew Oaksen, a founding member of 911, is a local media artist and independent producer who has created a strong body of personal work that focuses on issues of representation in media and cultural attitudes. She is the recipient of many distinguished awards and has exhibited her work throughout the U.S. and Canada. Heather is Assistant Professor of Video Art at Cornish College for the Arts.