GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — At the World of Winter art installation Four Directions, there are clear signs not to climb the structure. Still, light artist Two Eagles Marcus was sent photos of people standing atop his piece of art.
The piece has been able to weather one winter storm already, and is set to be out at 555 Monroe in Grand Rapids until March. But it wasn't able to withstand those who climbed the art structure.
“I don’t think they intended to damage it when they climbed it. But the reality is they did damage it,” light artist Two Eagles Marcus said.
Now, two of the cubes don't light up as they're supposed to. It's a disappointment for Two Eagles, who spent 200 hours on the project.
“When you put something out in the world and you just leave it out there, you have to anticipate that some stuff like that may happen. You might not like it. But it’s out of my control,” Marcus said.
The installation is inspired by Two Eagles' indigenous heritage. He explained what the artwork meant to FOX 17 on Wednesday.
“Four Directions is a Native American indigenous belief to a lot of tribes about the four directions north, south, east and west, but also how it relates to the life cycles of birth, adolescence, or death or old age,” Marcus said. “But also the association with the seasons. Spring summer, fall winter. The four parts of the day. All these cycles work together in harmony just so we have a sustainable life. It’s part of our lives too.”
Two Eagles already has plans to fix Four Directions on Wednesday evening. He's turned the repair project into an artist meet and greet. Information can be found here.
FOX 17 reached out to Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., one of the organizations that puts on World of Winter. They gave the following statement:
"DGRI is incredibly grateful to all the people that make World of Winter possible every year, especially everyone who attends and enjoys the festival. This week, the installation Four Directions, by local creator Two Eagles Marcus, was damaged due to visitors ignoring signage and climbing on the artwork. Every artist and creator involved in World of Winter puts so much time, effort, and creative energy into their work to share it with the community. We ask and hope that attendees will honor the artists by treating the installations with care and respect."
Two Eagles says the piece is not designed to withstand people standing on it, and climbing it is dangerous.
“We don’t want people to go up there and fall off and get hurt. That’s, like, really dumb,” Marcus said.
Two Eagles has another installation at World of Winter, Kaloperion, a human-sized kaleidoscope at Sixth Street Park. He says he's grateful for the opportunity to display his work at World of Winter for the second-straight year.
The full list of World of Winter events and installations can be found here.
READ MORE: 2-month 'World of Winter' festival returns to downtown Grand Rapids
