The Cynthia Winings Gallery presents “Semaphore Love Letter”

The Cynthia Winings Gallery presents Heather Lyon’s Premier of a collective performance of ‘SEMAPHORE LOVE LETTER’, an action in the environment using a language of flags to send a message of Love and Healing to the ocean. The date of the event is Saturday, August 22, 5:30 PM, Curtis Cove, East Blue Hill, Maine.

Heather Lyon writes, “SEMAPHORE LOVE LETTER” is an ongoing series of movement and flag based video and public performances in Maine, France, Portugal, Italy, and the Republic of Georgia; a declaration of love and lament to water in all forms. Semaphore is a system of communication using flags held in specific positions to represent letters that then create phrases. This project begins from the understanding that water supports all life, and seeks to draw attention to and build relationship with water as an entity.

“I am calling to you, my beloved, across these sublime spaces. I am declaring my love to you, and to the mountains, and to the sea, to the unknowable in myself, in you, and all that is.”

“As a way to investigate collective intention and action I am inviting a group of interested people to participate in this project. We will learn and then perform together a semaphore phrase at the edge of the ocean. I see the ocean / water as the potential recipient of the message, but our intentions will vary, directed towards a specific person, persons, non-human entity or situation, requesting water to be the carrier of the message. We will wear mylar “safety ponchos” often used in situations of disaster, pointing to the urgency of this critical moment. Though useful against cold and heat, it does nothing to protect us from emotional catastrophe.

“This project holds increased relevance in this time of global trauma and can be experienced as an acknowledgement of our collective loss and physical separation. I am interested in semaphore as a code, a form of movement based nonverbal communication. I use it to express sentiments of longing and tenderness.”

The performance for the community will be held at 5:30PM, and will last approximately 15 minutes. Afterwards, the flags will be available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds donated to a local organization working towards the protection and preservation of our water. Everyone is welcome, donations toward the project are gratefully accepted.