DPI Alum Rose DeSiano's installation "Reflect & Refract: A Public Monument to Democracy" is on display at the Cleveland Downton Public Library through November 30, 2020 in the Eastman Reading Garden, located between Main Library and Louis Stokes Wing on Superior Avenue downtown.
A public monument made of maze-like lenticular walls interweave life-size photographs of labor, leisure, and protest — images represent the working parts of life in a democracy.
Reflect and Refract Democracy installation by Rose DeSiano
Features four objects of optical illusion: stereoscopes, a lenticular, mirrors, and an armillary sphere, which combine to blend reflections, rainbow-colored light, and history into a singular working system alluding to the intertwined chaos and harmony of true democracy.
In the center of the garden, luminescent orbital monuments honor Unsung Heroines of Cleveland who have played pivotal roles in the city's democracy through political action, activism, and cultural contributions, all in a nod to 2020’s centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which broadened our definition of democracy but still fell short of representing many.
The exhibition’s walls showcase photographs that represent three aspects of American democracy: protest, leisure, and labor, all to create an impression of what it is to live and work in the United States. DeSiano sourced the images from Cleveland Public Library’s Photograph Collection, the Library of Congress, and Cleveland State University’s Cleveland Memory Project.
Desiano is also one of the artists in the NYU cohort of the 100 years | 100 years project at the Park Avenue Armory.