​Concrete Thoughts

Rugby artist Terry Jelsing tears down the wall

Rugby based visual artist Terry Jelsing is that not only focuses on his art as an individual artist, but practices social art as well. In the past 30 years has worked as an art educator, worked in arts administration, and as a curator. Jelsing is no stranger to the FM area. One may observe his work in the permanent collection in the Hodo lounge, Fargo South High School, the West Acres Mall, and numerous private collections. He was also one of the driving forces behind the construction of The Plains Art Museum.

This Saturday, February 6, “Songs for Spirit Lake II” opens at the North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks.The exhibition features not only his work but the work of Bill Harbort of Minot, and Winnipeg based artist Tim Shouten. On Monday, February. 8, the reception for his solo exhibition “Sound and Motion or Valentine's Day in Berlin” will be at the Hodo in Downtown Fargo. The exhibition will consist of 21 new pieces.

“Songs for Spirit Lake II” was made possible by a grant from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Six international artists from various social and cultural backgrounds were selected by The North Dakota Museum of Art to participate in this group exhibition that took nearly three years to complete. The participating artists were immersed in the culture of the Spirit Lake Reservation and explore it through their art.

Jelsing’s contribution was a 9x12 foot wall weighing nearly 2,000 pounds constructed by the artist, but built with papier mache’ bricks made by members of the Spirit Lake Nation.Jelsing believed that the creation of the papier mache’ bricks was an all inclusive activity that would not only engage the participants but to serve as an individual signature for each person involved. They had the option of adding various objects to their mixture such as colored paper, string, and things found in nature such as leaves and pinecones.

“Separate the bricks represent the individual, but together they represent the community and the reservation itself. The wall became a metaphor for what we keep in and what we let out.” Jelsing says,”When I was looking for the words for this in the Lakota language they don’t have a word for ‘wall’,because they didn’t really have an architectural feature like that, but they have a word for spirit”. Thus the title “Spirit Wall” was born.

“The bricks are not refined or polished, and are pretty rough around the edges, but when all are put together it’s a powerful thing.” Jelsing says, “In most cases when we build walls, metaphorically, it’s about fear. Fear destroys most of the good things in life, and most of the accurate perceptions of the world. As long as we let fear dominate--we will always have that wall between us and another culture, or our own personal dreams, or even our own personal relationships”.

The most positive irony of all is that, according to Jelsing, as they build the wall together, the more they tear down their personal walls.

“Spirit Wall” is an example of Jelsing’s social art. “Working as an individual artist is very different from working as a social artist, it takes some of those ideas, but you are confined to an object of illusion.” Jelsing says.

His exhibition at the Hodo is an example of his work as an individual artist. “Sound and Motion or Valentine's Day in Berlin” is a collection of his smaller oil on panel pieces. The exhibition happens to fall around Valentine’s day, but it does not exude the typical valentine themes. In fact it exhibits a darker more erotic side to the day.

Jelsing expressed a unique perspective on his work.”I’ve always been concerned with time, or at least the western perspective of it. Our timeline is very linear. It starts at one point and travels from one point to another. A,B,C -- that’s how we measure our lines, but when you think of indigenous cultures, who still have their roots in primitive non-record keeping, their world is spatial. You are in the center of it and it rotates around you.”

“I don’t think of my work as a commodity,”he said,”I think of my work as a thought, and that was a thought at that particular time” he added.

IF YOU GO:

Songs for Spirit Lake II

Saturday, February 6, 5 to 7 p.m.

North Dakota Museum of Art in Grand Forks.

and

Sound and Motion or Valentine's Day in Berlin

Monday, FebRUARY 8, 5 to 7 p.m.

Hodo