Glenn Kaino is a conceptual artist from Los Angeles who since 2013 has had the opportunity to get in touch with Tommie Smith, the legendary former American sprinter famous for his iconic gesture: after taking the gold at the 1968 Olympic Games, he raised the arm in salute to human rights during the national anthem.
Bridge is the 100-foot long building dedicated to this important historical moment. The artwork will be installed as part of a larger exhibit in autumn 2018.

And that’s how Kaino decided to isolate his arm and split it: maybe even to let Tommie see the gesture of greeting (and his arm) like everyone else does. A gesture that, as the artist says, has multiple meanings:

“A golden path leading forward from the present but connected to the past, a spectacular reconciliation of a historic record, an individual memory, and a public symbol all renegotiated in an infrastructure of time to creates stories of the now.”

The past finds continuity in the present: just think of athletes like Colin Kaepernick, who are criticized for publicly protesting on similar issues 40 years later. The exhibition, titled With Drawn Arms: Glenn Kaino and Tommie Smith, will open in Atlanta, Georgia, at the High Museum on September 29, 2018.