In 1997, the town of Grand Forks, North Dakota, suffered enormous damages as a result of severe flooding. Pioneering video artist Mary Lucier examines the devastation of the flood, its aftermath, and the resiliency of the town's survivors in her latest work, Floodsongs. A video and sound installation that incorporates images of homes destroyed by the flood, the testimonies of townspeople who lived through it, and household items left behind by the waters, Floodsongs is on view at The Museum of Modern Art from March 13 to June 20 in the Museum's Garden Hall Video Gallery.
During the spring of 1997, the Red River in Grand Forks crested at fiftyfour feet--twenty-six feet above flood stage--following a winter of record blizzards and arctic cold. When it became clear that the town's dikes would not hold, thousands of citizens waded, paddled, or were ferried through the rising muddy waters, leaving their homes and lifelong possessions to the river. On April 19, fire broke out in the flooded downtown, destroying eleven city buildings. With no way to fight the fire and no homes left to save, the evacuated population of Grand Forks watched from a distance as their city was consumed by flames and water.
