Migration Stage presents a sculptural construct created for the present and in anticipation of the future. The installation consists offourteen AnthropomorphicDolosse and fifteen SeaBearer units and is located on Seattle’s downtown waterfront at the foot of Yesler Way. Migration Stage provides improvisational social amenities and is also intended to be appropriated for ecological utility as necessitated by climate and environmental changes. By enabling flexibility of placement, future generations have the option to set the stage.The forms of the concrete Anthropomorphic Dolosse and SeaBearer units draw from structural, ecological, and cultural sources. Theirfunctionality reflects the tradition of Northwest Coast Indigenous tools that are both utilitarian and aesthetic objects. The term “dolos” is a South Afrikaans word for a knucklebone toy which had characteristics that inspired the original 1960’s design of the dolosse (plural) that are now in widespread use and are becoming, by default, a global signifier of the Anthropocene. For this artwork, the standard dolos has been modified to include the addition of "arm" holes, reinforcing the figurative form and contributing to its utility as the holes become anchor and rope holds for habitat enhancement. They are designed to be able to be relocated, but today, Anthropocene Dolosse provide a place to gather. In the future they may become part of an adaptive ecological civic toolkit.SeaBearer units serve dual purpose, as seating and as portable seabarriers. The form derives from barriers first used on Highway 99 in the early 1940’s, and later in the 1950s as Jersey barriers. The SeaBearer grain sack/sand bag motif references the working waterfront and fortification against flooding. The undulating ninety-foot rhythm wall, created by theinterlockingSeaBearerunits, might suggest buoyant containment booms and bladders offshore, or sand bags hastily stacked to stem rising tides. The name "SeaBearer" suggests the installation is a bearer of information, news, a prophecy. Migration Stageis an artifact to the future. Children who play on the installation now may come to appreciatethe functional utility of their future adultplayground. The installation can remain at the waterfront or migrate to higher ground. For now, it is a storytelling opera, a Salish Sea dance of resilience, agility, and equity.Have a seat on the lap of mother dolos. The stage is set, or is it?
