1161 - Wakefield by Eric Anderson

Hi, my name is Eric Anderson. The artwork before you is titled Wakefield.

Wakefield is a dynamic, permanent public artwork that emits light and fog from the ground to visualize and consider our first and last breaths, when someone is born and when someone passes away. The artwork activates in real time in response to these health events occurring within Mayo Clinic. In many hospitals, when a patient completes cancer treatment, they are invited to ring a bell. A lullaby plays in the overhead intercom system when a baby is born. My aim was to translate health events like these into experiences shared by the community.

Wakefield began as a lighting installation for the 2016 Placemakers Prototyping Festival in response to the theme of health and the built environment. Over the years, through iteration, public feedback, and collaboration with the city, curatorial team, landscape architects, and Mayo Clinic. It evolved into a permanent fixture activating Peace Plaza in downtown Rochester. For me, the intention of Wakefield isn’t to highlight or celebrate individual finite beginnings and endings. The intention is to regard the whole of life, its porousness, its impermanence, and to remind us, right now, that we are present. Life is messy, complicated, confusing, and beautiful. It can feel too long, and it can certainly feel too short. Wakefield is an invitation to slow down, to consider where we are in our lives, to consider where we are in the lives of others, or to simply be at peace.

Thanks for listening. Continue to explore all of the artwork throughout Rochester’s Talking Trail.