The problem with a spiral is that it’s too easy to get lost in it. That happened to several patrons at the opening of artist-in-residence yétúndé ọlágbajú’s exhibition “a spiral fuels and fills” on view in the San Francisco gallery 500 Capp Street through January 2025.
The conceptual artist, who uses the pronoun they, means to connect actions of the past to today, showing how patterns repeat, in the exhibit developed over a yearlong residence. That’s fine; it’s just that it’s hard to keep track of how the installations in the spiral unravel. Even the 20-page booklet and map passed out at the front door of the gallery in the former home of artist David Ireland didn’t explain the meanings behind the works.
The building is an interesting walkthrough for first-time visitors. It’s like an artifact stuck in time. The clean, bare, unpainted walls and exposed hardwood floors make guests feel as if they’re walking through an abandoned home, and the art pieces resemble the belongings of squatters. But the stone terrace and a modern elevator that leads to a state-of-the-art basement seem disconnected with the era of the residence.
The 2022 video piece “a spiral fire, no. 1” is projected on a wall in the basement. It features ọlágbajú and collaborators spending the day digging a 30-foot-wide spiral pattern into a garden in rural Wisconsin, filling the trenches with all manner of loose items. At night, the items are ignited.
In contrast is audio from 2024’s “a foundation (care to resistance).” It features ọlágbajú recounting how the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests reminded them of learning about the 1971 Attica riot in New York in which prisoners’ requests for basic sanitary needs were met with violence by armed officers.
Together, the works make for a powerful coupling and quasi-manifesto, with the audio drawing the conclusion: “Resistance must be collective, because our opponent, the collective state, is formidable.”
Those pieces best illustrate ọlágbajú’s theme, as do a few works by collaborators.
Lois Bielefeld’s “For Jack,” an audio piece, is heard best while ascending a spiral staircase. In it, the artist (they/she) describes their disdainful reaction, as a teen, to their father’s mood swings and morals: “It’s pretty easy to be self-righteous and judge a parent at 17,” she says. “Now, I’m 40 and have my own depression.” The line resonates, even as one walks away from the piece’s strategically placed speakers and abundant candles.
Candles are placed throughout the house and patrons are encouraged to light them. Sadly, they do not guide visitors from one unlabeled installation to another.
Also, the overlapping audio loops in some pieces and lack of coherence in many (including those making use of analog technology such as broken cassette recorders) don’t necessarily reveal a pattern; rather, they lead patrons to where they began, whether or not they intended to backtrack. (Addressing the audio issue, ọlágbajú later speculated that Ireland removed insulation from the walls to allow sound to travel freely.)
At the opening, ọlágbajú gathered the audience to the terrace to debut 2024’s “a spiral fire, no. 2.” Unlike the large trench of its predecessor, the installation is a small, metal candelabra in the middle of a makeshift altar. As olágbajú lit the long, green candles, they described how items in the original piece were the participants’ personal contributions, and encouraged guests to light a candle, too, and to say what they would “sacrifice for peace” while doing so.
While such a cleansing ceremony to cast old things into a flame for the sake of peace is an intriguing idea, it easily will be lost on gallery visitors who choose to forgo an offered guided tour and experience the exhibition of about 15 pieces on their own.
Yétúndé ọlágbajú’s “a spiral fuels and fills” runs through Jan. 9, 2025 at 500 Capp Street, 500 Capp St., San Francisco. Admission is free (donations encouraged); $20 artist-guided tours (with no one turned away due to lack of funds) also are offered. Visit 500cappstreet.org.
Charles Lewis III is a San Francisco-born journalist and performing artist. He has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, the San Francisco Examiner, and many more. Dodgy evidence of this can be found at The Thinking Man’s Idiot.wordpress.com.
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