Lexa Walsh at the Guardhouse will be the second installment of this year’s The Guardhouse Program. Three artists are selected annually to transform the former military guard station into an art installation. The work is viewable 24 hours a day through the windows of The Guardhouse, highlighting specific cultural and natural histories of the site. Walsh’s installation Mourning Song (2024) stems from her ongoing interviews with veterans to promote conversations about the complexities of war — acknowledging the military history of Fort Mason.
A long-time Oakland, CA based artist, Walsh now works out of the Hudson Valley. She came of age in the Bay Area post-punk cultural scene of the 1990’s, an era of large influence over her work. She has exhibited and performed internationally for over 25 years with her context-responsive, multifaceted projects, exhibitions, objects and publications about power and value — and the questions we should ask about power, particularly military power.
A history of service and loss
Located in the northern waterfront of the San Francisco Bay, the Fort Mason Center is a historic landmark. It functioned as a military base with a dynamic history extending back to the 1700’s. In the twentieth century, this Historic Landmark District served as the embarkation point for millions of U.S. Army troops as they headed off to war in the Pacific.
Walsh’s installation fills the former military guard station with an installation of ceramic, textile and mixed media works resembling medals, plaques and other military decorations. The term “decoration” is a play on words, implying military decorations and objects pertaining to formal recognition. The artist incorporates components of domestic and bodily adornment into her ceramic sculptures, such as tassels, belts and bling. Many of the pieces are physically connected through dark chains and braided hair which are a reference to Victorian mourning jewelry. During the Victorian age, there were formal mourning periods during which widows and other family members would wear black and attach a symbolic piece of jewelry to remember their deceased loved one. These tributes often included a small painted portrait, photograph or a lock of the deceased’s hair.
Memento mori
Walsh’s oversized awards are impossible to wear, much like the weight and burden that war creates. Creating larger-than-life objects invites viewers to reflect on individual and collective grief, loss, and mourning while witnessing the horrors of war among and around us. A new sound collage will accompany the installation incorporating interviews from her 2022 project Consolidated Mess at Marin MoCA. During these conversations, the artist uncovered veterans’ and civilians’ experiences with war.
Walsh shares, “I am interested in how we find value in certain wars more than others, who is valued, and how this value sometimes changes with time.” Walsh’s installation at The Guardhouse serves as a place for conversation, community and healing.
FOR-SITE
The FOR-SITE organization was established in 2003 by Founding Executive Director & Chief Curator Cheryl Haines. FOR-SITE is dedicated to the creation, understanding and presentation of art about place, according to a news release. In a series of highly-acclaimed site installations, FOR-SITE projects have included Lands’ End at the former Cliff House (2021-2022), Sanctuary (2017-2018), Home Land Security (2016) and @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz (2014-2015) consisting of seven site specific mixed media installations examining the broader social issues related to freedom and prison culture, and International Orange (2012), a group show honoring the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, says the release, which also notes their works with other artists, including land-art installations by Andy Goldsworthy currently on view in the Presidio, including Spire (2008) and Wood Line (2011).
Sharon Anderson is an artist and writer in southern California. She can be reached at mindtheimage.com
