In this Exhibition
Inyan Wakan translates from Lakota to English as Holy Rock and is the culmination of Marty Two Bulls Jr.’s experience at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), in Lead, SD. Two Bulls was the Artist in Residence in the Summer of 2024 at SURF and spent a month exploring the lower depths of the Homestake Mine system where he learned about the experiments happening at SURF and its complex history. Two Bulls met and shared ideas with theoretical particle physicists, engineers and miners from all over the world. Two Bulls’ artwork in this exhibition explores ideas around extraction, dark matter, neutrinos and gold mining in the Black Hills. Most importantly, Inyan Wakan is a bridge between cultures and belief systems.
As an Oglala Lakota artist, Marty Two Bulls Jr. has a unique perspective of the layered histories at SURF. The Lakota signed the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the United States Government which promised the Lakota their sacred Black Hills. Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874 causing a goldrush. Consequently, treaty boundaries were illegally redrawn to allow for gold mining. Gold extraction from the Black Hills is seen as an act of desecration from the perspective of the Lakota people. In the early 2000’s Homestake Goldmine closed, after 125 years of operation, and transitioned into a state of the art scientific research facility now known as the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF). SURF is now the steward of the land where Homestake once operated. Gold is no longer minded at SURF; knowledge is now extracted from the granite depths. The scientists at SURF use the ancient granite of the Black Hills to weave a creation story that helps explain the beginnings of the known universe. The Lakota people have their own creations stories centered around the Black Hills.
