COCO HALL — YOU MAY GO NOW

Historically, people have been nomadic, moving with the seasons. You May Go Now is about our 21st century shifting. The objects in the installation are metaphors for what the artist would write if she were a poet. They include Teddy bears, receptacles of unconditional love that represent the migrations of millions of displaced people, animals, and other living creatures; ceramic and velvet remote controls; a fleet of papier mâché crafts, each representing one of five necessities of life in industrialized countries; and the iPhone Oracle, which invites viewers to ask a yes/no question, and unzip one of the stuffed iPhones for an answer.

About the artist: Joshua Tree-based artist Coco Hall, a Bennington College graduate in sculpture, founded a cottage industry producing her designs for winged baseball caps and stuffed toys shaped like fruits and vegetables called Vegimals. Her toy design and fine art consistently intertwine with her environmental and animal rights activism. The three creative practices share conceptual DNA, and as a consequence of  the soft materials she uses, her work has a toy-like appeal, opening viewers to the innate humor our species enjoys.

Artist website: cocohall.com