Blues Chapel in Edgefield...a video!

I took several videos of the recent installation of "Blues Chapel" in Edgefield. I kept three of them. Two are posted on my family blog, here and here. I took these with the camera on a tripod. The video here is hand held. It ends on the exhibition sign which reads:

Blues:

A style of music evolved from southern African-American secular songs and usually distinguished by a syncopated 4/4 rhythm, flatted thirds and sevenths, a 12-bar structure, and lyrics in a three-line stanza in which the second line repeats the first.

"The blues is an expression of anger against shame and humiliation" BB King.

BLUES CHAPEL
Installation and work by Susan Lenz

Early female Blues singers lived in a male dominated society, in a segregated country, and worked in an industry that took advantage of their lack of education and opportunity. Physical abuse, drug and alcohol dependence, and poverty plagued most. They struggled, made sacrifices, and sang of their woes. They were exploited, mistreated, or simply neglected but their music is still played. The Blues helped change the world for today’s young, black, female vocalists.

Tapestry in Blue honors twenty-four early female blues singers, depicted as saintly martyrs. The mixed media grouping takes the form of a traditional block quilt. Heavy embellishment is reminiscent of the lavish costumes worn by Blues singers on the touring circuit. Music, candles, fans, a church pew, and a floral altar have transformed the space into a chapel. Viewers are invited to pay their respects.

Other exhibited work includes hand and machine embroidery, mixed media triptychs, a beaded icon, and a quilt called “Bessie”.
Susan Lenz
2008


This installation for made possible through the support of family and friends, including Mr. John Whitehead, Columbia Music Festival Association; Karen Watson, Sumter Museum of Art; Chuck Herin, Pegheds, Inc.; Jessica Coppin; Gita Larsen; Dorothy Warren, Region 2 Discovery Center; and Steve and Alex Dingman.