The Unused Confetti From Hillary Clinton’s Election-Night Loss Is Now a Work of Art – artnet News

Theres no denying the first half of 2017would have been very different had Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. In her current St. Louis gallery exhibition, artistBunny Bursonremembers the future that very nearly was, creating an artwork using the iridescent confetti that was primed to go off on election night this past November 8, had the country elected its first woman president.

A longtime Clinton devotee, Burson was the executive director of thePresidents Committee on the Arts and the HumanitiesunderPresident Bill Clintons administration. In the aftermath of the 2016 election, she hopes her art will helpmotivate women to run for office in 2018.

Bunny Burson, And Still I Rise (2017) installation view at Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri. Courtesy of Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri.

I was among her supporters at the Javits Center waiting for the symbolic shattering of the glass ceiling and the shard like confetti to fall down on us. We left the Javits Center at 2 in the morning with profound emptiness, Burson told NBC. The unused confetti had to be removedfrom the air cannons and swept into empty boxes by workers.

I wanted to fill that emptiness with hope by giving voice to my feelings that even in defeat, Hillarys confetti could be used to inspire the next generations of little girls and young women to dream big and to act on their dreams, she added.

Tracking down the unused confetti was no easy task. Burson made calls to Arkansas, Boston, New York, Connecticut, Illinois, and Washington, DC. Though many warned her the confetti she sought had likely wound up in the trash, Bursons quest was ultimately successful.

After about two weeks of searching, she tracked downthe confetti in Chicago and was able to acquire several large boxes of it200 pounds, to be exactfor her work.

Bursons sculpture, titledAnd Still I Rise, takes its titlefrom the Maya Angelou book of poetry of the same name. Pieces of clear, shiny confetti swirl around inthe gallery window, which has essentially been transformed into a political snow globe. The works title is printed on the glass in white block letters. The colorless confetti was chosen for itsresemblance to shards of broken glass, to represent the breaking of the highest, hardest glass ceiling, as Clinton referred to a woman someday winning the presidency.

Bunny Burson, And Still I Rise (2017) installation view at Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri. Courtesy of Bruno David Gallery, Clayton, Missouri.

For Burson, the artwork is more than just a message of hope, but a call to action in the face of Trump administration policies. We need to think about all of these rights that we have sort of gotten used to, which we may not always havewomens rights, voting rights, shetoldSt. Louis Public Radio.Elections have consequences, serious consequences we need to stay engaged.

The piece is displayed 24 hours a day in the gallerys front window, overlooking Forsythe Boulevard.

Bunny Burson: And Still I Rise is on display through at Bruno David Gallery,7513 Forsythe Boulevard, Clayton, Missouri, May 4August 12, 2017.

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The Unused Confetti From Hillary Clinton's Election-Night Loss Is Now a Work of Art - artnet News