Morgen Christie

Statement

The history of a place has given me so much in the way of understanding simply aging. In a 15-minute light change duration but also a time, century change duration. The relationship of time to memory is incredibly important to me. I hope to cement the neighborhood to its subconscious through memorials. I reinstate the history of a place with the present by cleansing it with liquid light. I work with projections. I think of these spaces as ephemeral memorials. These projections are so temporary the memory will only be reconciled in the documentation.

I think a lot about blurring the timeline of history. I’ve used ancient traditions of death masks and reliquaries combined with video and LEDs to develop the age of memory. Recently, I have been using my own ancestry to evolve my practice holistically: by returning the maker to what is being made. I am self-described time artist and I make work in relationship to location and life span.

GlogauAIR Project

The project I am proposing for the online residency, January through March is based on Hannah Freeman. Hannah was also known as “Indian Hannah.” She was the last Lenni Lenape or Delaware tribe healer in the Chester County, PA, USA area. William Penn, Pennsylvania’s founder made a deal with her tribe. It stated the land would belong to the Lenape as long as one of their people remained. I am writing narration based on Hannah. She would be speaking from the perspective of knowing she was living her last days.

As my family belongs to a nearby tribe, and many of us still live on this land, Hannah was not the last. The actual sculptural element would be a bust of Hannah seated on a tree stump, representative of Roman statues. The bust is made of grass and reeds, while the stump maintains the trunk branches. In front of the figure is a 5-foot-wide round basket weaved parabolic-like speaker laying on the ground. Hannah made many baskets for the local settlers. I am using the language she created to make this installation. All of the structures will be spray painted white and installed on Lenape land during snow fall. The sound will fill the space. Video and photo documentation will be used to share the project online. The title for the piece is “Whitewashed Tomb”.

CV Summary

SCREENINGS

• 2022 My mama told me I’m experimental, Long Bien District, Hanoi, Vietnam
• 2022 #Post RE:SET@New Future, art/channel, Austria, Vienna (online)
• 2021 Simultan Festival, MultipleXity, Timișoara, Romania
• 2021 Good + Well, San Diego, CA (online promo)
• 2020 Corona Film Collection, Alphabet Cinema, Cologne, Germany (online)
• 2020 Mad Lab Theater, Experiment 5, Guild Cinema, Albuquerque, NM
• 2019 Saigon Experimental Film Festival II, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• 2019 Saigon Experimental Film Festival, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• 2019 Sixth Annual Philadelphia Independents Animation Festival, Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA
• 2018 Alexandre Trauner Film Festival, Szolnok, TiszaPart Cinema, Hungary
• 2018 Unseen Festival, Counterpath, Denver, CO
• 2018 Horn: Experimental Film Festival, Musrara School of Arts, Jerusalem, Israel
• 2018 We Invented Nothing, BAM Film Festival, Bierum, The Netherlands
• 2017 Earth Works, Panorama Festival, Main Line Art Center (online)
• 2016 Grain Film Festival, Richmond, VA
• 2015 Usurp Zone 5 Film Festival, London, UK
• 2015 Sunday Video Spot, Transmedia Artist Marketing Resources (online)
• 2015 iPhone Film Festival, 5th Annual (online)
• 2014 Vidiot Eyes, The Unstitute, London, UK (online)
• 2014 Tenacious Dreams Film Festival, Modesto, CA
• 2013 Home Movie Day, EMP Collective, Baltimore, MD
• 2013 International Streaming Festival, Edition 8 (online)
• 2013 Pop Rally, Abstract Currents, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY

EXHIBITIONS

• 2022 Remix, Wanderlife Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
• 2021 ColorWheels, Cherry Street Pier, Philadelphia, PA
• 2021 Members Show, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2021 Backslash Lit, Issue 3, Cmd (command), Digital Literature, Potomac, MD (online)
• 2020 Backslash Lit, Issue 1, Init, Digital Literature, Potomac, MD (online)
• 2019 Members Show, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2018 The Future, Exchange Gallery, Bloomsburg, PA
• 2017 The Melting Pot, Exchange Gallery, Bloomsburg, PA
• 2016 Terminal F, Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA
• 2016 Collaboration with Erin Belair, Pair Shaped (online)
• 2015 Photo Day, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2015 Will You Think About Me, Interactive Project (online)
• 2014 BIO50, 24th Biennial of Design, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• 2014 Broken Spoken, Old City Publishing, Philadelphia, PA
• 2014 Photo Day, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2014 Members Show, 3rd Street Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
• 2013 Small Works, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY
• 2013 Instagram Show, Melrose Lightspace, Los Angeles, CA
• 2013 Photo Day, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2013 Small Works, Frameworks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
• 2013 Members Show, Crane Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2012 Photo Day, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
• 2011 Work in Progress, Woodward Gallery, Baltimore, MD
• 2010 Baptistry, Fox 2 Gallery, Baltimore, MD
• 2010 MICA @ SACI, Fox 2 Gallery, Baltimore, MD
• 2009 MICA @ SACI, Palazzo Jules Maidoff, Florence, Italy
• 2008 Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, Meyerhoff Gallery, Baltimore, MD
• 2007 Chester County Art Association, Tel Hai Gallery, West Chester, PA

SELECTED SITES

• 2022 Echoes in Harlem, The Artist Gardener, W. 132nd Street Block Association Garden, Harlem, NY
• 2022 Stargazers’ Stone, Embreeville, PA
• 2022 Derry Union American Methodist Episcopal Cemetery, Coatesville, PA
• 2022 Doorway, Centuries Limited Antiques, Chester Springs, PA
• 2022 Lied’s Silo, Lied’s Park, Coatesville, PA
• 2021 Continental Soldier Death Masks, Valley Forge Park, Valley Forge, PA
• 2021 Civil, Ebenezer AME Church, Frazer, PA
• 2021 Time-Worn Hazard, Marsh Creek State Park, Downingtown, PA
• 2021 Feed, Roger Hunt Mill, Race St, Downingtown, PA
• 2021 Ash, Ashbridge House, Downingtown, PA
• 2021 Recall, Snyder’s Mill, Phoenixville, PA
• 2021 Pitfall, Bryn Coed Preserve, Chester Springs, PA
• 2021 Trifecta, 398 West Kings Highway, Coatesville, PA
• 2021 Bonded, Bondsville Mill, Downingtown, PA
• 2020 Inside a Projector, Beaver Run Knoll, Downingtown, PA
• 2018 Viewfinder, Marsh Creek State Park, Downingtown, PA
• 2017 Recollection, Longwood School, Exton, PA
• 2017 Eclipse, Lancaster Court, Downingtown, PA
• 2013 Water Table, Hibernia Park, Coatesville, PA
• 2011 Sightseeing, Cohen Plaza, Baltimore, MD

EDUCATION

• 2011 Maryland Institute College of Art, MICA, Baltimore, MD, General Fine Arts, Video & Film Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts
• 2009 Studio Arts Centers International, SACI, Florence, Italy, Honors Study Abroad

AWARD & RESIDENCY

• GlogauAIR online Artist Residency, Berlin, Germany (forthcoming)
• School of Visual Arts, SVA, New York City, NY, The Artist Residency Project
• The Exchange Gallery, The Future, 2nd place prize
• Studio Art Centers International, SACI, Florence, Italy, Honors Study Abroad
• Maryland Institute College of Art, MICA, Baltimore, MD, Trustee Award
• Maryland Institute College of Art, MICA, Baltimore, MD, Presidential Award
• Chester County Art Association, West Chester, PA, Jetee Award

Gallery