'A Universal Image': Barricades Turn Into Art In Redwood City

REDWOOD CITY, CA — From a distance, a barricade is simply that — an object serving its purpose, blending in with the street lights above and the sidewalks below.

But when Cuban American artists Antonia Wright and Ruben Millares saw a photo from the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy protests of barricades bound together in a disorderly composition, they realized that barricades can take on deeper meanings of control, protection and power.

The artists replicated that photo in a sculpture called “Opposition Camp” that symbolizes the right to peacefully protest. It is available for viewing through the windows of the Art Kiosk in Redwood City.

"Police barricades are very much crowd-control barricades,” Wright said in an interview with Patch. “They’ll surround protestors with these barricades. It raises the question, ‘How public is public space,’ when people are getting surrounded by these bars.”

The barricades are stacked together — with LED lights to draw attention to them — and represent acts of resistance. Wright and Millares sought to evoke emotions out of objects that Wright said are designed to “disappear into the landscape.” They came across the image of barricades of the Hong Kong protests from their research, which has included the different aesthetics of protests.

The duo were approached by Lance Fung, the curator of the Art Kiosk, which was launched in 2019 through funding by the Redwood City Improvement Association to bring thought-provoking installation art. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative also provided grants for special projects such as this one.

Millares said to Patch that highlighting a seemingly mundane, grey object “opens up the conversation a little wider” about how people are controlled, and why they feel safe or unsafe in certain situations.

“It’s such a universal image,” Millares said. “Barricades are used everywhere for all types of things, positive and negative. It could be referencing any country or any movement. It’s timeless.”

When Wright saw the image of the barricades in Hong Kong, a stack of metal “smushed together, super chaotic,” she thought it was beautiful. Protestors in Hong Kong commonly use zip ties to tie together barricades and form a blockade.

With massive protests breaking out in the United States and around the world over the past year and a half, the artists thought the image of a barricade would evoke universal emotions locally and beyond. Wright added her passion comes from a “deep love of protest.”

“I think protest is just so human,” Wright said.

The sculpture is available for viewing through Oct. 24. Click here for more information on Art Kiosk and other planned art installations. The Art Kiosk is located at Courthouse Square in Downtown Redwood City.