'The Frank Church – River of No Return Wilderness' was originally commissioned by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 2012. Part epitaph, part ode, part investigation, this installation draws together years of research and studio performance into a contemporary memorial form, chronicling the example of US Senator Frank Church.Church is a widely forgotten figure but whose name has resurfaced to public attention in the wake of the revelations of Edward Snowden. In the 1970’s Church led a series of investigations into the political practices of the United States, including the harassment of Martin Luther King Jr, assassination plots of foreign political leaders, and the development of mass surveillance.The title of this work is taken from the name of a wilderness park in Idaho, named in honor of United States Senator Frank Church, who had ironically used those exact words to warn of crossing over a “bridge of no return,” and this word play becomes the point of departure and hinge for Day’s evocation of Church, his investigation and his subsequent failed Presidential run. Through open-ended fragments and depiction of the massive burned out forest named after the politician, the piece attempts to take up the tradition of French history painting, in which art achieves political relevancy through dramatization and metaphor.
Edition 2+1AP.