Lobby was exhibited simultaneously with the Spin and Fold installations in New York City in 2007 (Fold was a further reconfiguration of the domestic musings of Strangely Familiar and Dream Home). The installations were a creative collaboration between Ricky Subritzky and Fiona MacDonald. Lobby was displayed in the lobby of the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts from March 14 to May 5.
Following George W. Bush’s assertion, in his second inaugural address, that “the future of America and the security of America depends upon the spread of liberty”, and his 44 references to the ideal in that speech, Subritzky and MacDonald wondered what liberty might mean now? Lobby presents America’s last Liberty Tree as a mandala, circled by doves and hawks, in a 20 by 30 foot ceiling work, while the surrounding walls are completely enfolded with a drape that depicts a kaleidoscopic protest scene. Lobby contemplates the tensions between citizens and governments, and the influential sway of lobby groups in the struggle between liberty and power.
