Home Land Security, September 10 – December 18, 2016
Group Exhibition at the For-Site Foundation, Fort Winfield Scott, San Fransisco, CA
Home Land Security, a site-responsive exhibition, convened an international slate of eighteen contemporary artists to activate historic military defense structures at Fort Winfield Scott in the Presidio, overlooking San Fransisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. New and recent art works were installed in military structures, reflecting on the human dimensions and increasing complexity of national security, including the physical and psychological borders we create, protect, and cross in its name.
Curated by Cheryl Haines and Jackie von Treskow of the For-Site Foundation, participating artists included Shiva Ahmadi, Tammam Azzam, Diaz Lewis, Yashar Azar Emdadian, Al Farrow, Liza Lou, Mandana Moghaddam, Trevor Paglen, Shapour Pouyan, Michele Pred, The Propeller Group, Luz Maria Sanchez, Do Ho Suh, Bill Viola, Alexia Webster, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Yin Xiuzhen.
An Israeli artist based in New York, Tirtzah Bassel draws with duct tape — a material most often associated with quick fixes and temporary solutions — to explore the airport as a modern space of transience and transformation. The painterly and sculptural effects she achieves with her limited palette conjure the intrusive physical intimacy of a security pat-down, the postures of waiting, or the no-man’s-land of the transit lounge. Under the heightened security regime since 9/11, the traditional emblems of travel — freedom, adventure, global connection — have become entangled with more complex emotions of vulnerability, discomfort, disempowerment, and exposure as travelers find themselves “trapped” between destinations. Applied directly to the walls, Bassel’s images explore the relationship between power and space, and the permeable borders between public and private domains.
Selected Press:
Frieze, Home Land Security, Rob Marks, October 24th, 2016
Hyperallergic, Stories of War and Survival Unfold in San Francisco’s Presidio, Thia Quiray Tagle, November 16th, 2016
The Art Newspaper, Political Art That Packs a Punch, Jori Finkel September 9th, 2016
S/FAQ Home Land Security at the Presidio, Garbielle Gopinath, December 15th, 2016
SF/Arts, New Presidio Exhibit Explores & Illuminates Complex Social Issues, Jean Schiffman, September 2016
New York Times, A ‘Home Land Security’ Art Show, at the Foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, Jori Finkel, June 23rd, 2016
KQED, “Ex-Military Bunkers to Host Major Group Exhibition in San Francisco,” Chloe Veltman, June 23, 2016
The Bay Area Reporter, “Coastal Art Installations,” Sura Wood, September 15, 2016
San Francisco Magazine, “Make Art Not War,” Annie Tittiger, September 2016
C Magazine, “Safe Haven”, Leilani Labong, September 2016
San Francisco Chronicle, “Foundation Puts Ballistics Test Inside Mothballed Presidio Bunker,” Sam Whiting, September 7, 2016
Curbed SF, “Exclusive Look at Art inside Presidio’s Abandoned Bunkers,” Adam Brinklow, ,September 9, 2016
KQED Forum, “Homeland Security Installation Comes to San Francisco’s Presidio Barracks,” Michael Krasny, September 13, 2016
SF Weekly, “For-site is 20/20,” Jonathan Curiel,, September 22, 2016
BBC World Service Radio, The Cultural Frontline, “Can Art Save the World?” , September 24, 2016
KQED, “Artwork and Setting Depict Post-9/11 World,” Matthew Harrison Tedford, September 26, 2016
Al Jazeera English, “Artists Exhibit Work in Historic Bunkers,” Allen Schauffler , September 29, 2016
NBC Bay Area, “Presidio Exhibit Gives Artful Twist to Homeland Security,” Joe Rostao, November 23, 2016
Squarecylinder,“Home Land Security @ Presidio,” Maria Porges, November 27, 2016
San Francisco Chronicle, “Exhibits Inside Soaring Cathedral, Stark Bunkers,” Charles Desmarais, December 14, 2016
The Creators Project, “That Time Art Took Over a Military Complex,” Tanja M. Laden, January 3, 2017