The Massive New Art Installation Made Entirely From Real People’s Luggage
The artist just dropped a preview, and gave us the story behind his stunning new work.
Denver International Airport has been in the midst of a renovation for the last six years—though it feels like forever to travelers who regularly pass through the Mile High City. Those temporary white walls are a little disorienting, but it’s nice to have something to look forward to when the project eventually finishes.
In this case, that includes some very cool art: Thomas “Detour” Evans, a Denver-based muralist and studio artist, has been tapped to make a large sculptural piece for the airport. His medium? Luggage. He offered up a sneak peek of his work on r/Denver, to the celebration of many locals, airport enthusiasts, and public art fans.
A winding, infinite loop of metal fills the frame of the image Evans posted. The bags themselves each represent a piece of hyperlocal personal history that will be immortalized in the sculpture. Throughout the two and a half year artistic process, Evans has collected pieces of luggage from Coloradans to include in the installation, and their stories as well.
During a phone call with Evans, he spoke about some of the stories he’d been told throughout this process. He described the story of migrants arriving in Colorado with all of their belongings in their luggage, and about someone who carried one of these suitcases to Nevada to adopt a child.
All of the work to source and preserve these stories will help make this a piece of public art that truly reflects the heart of Colorado—the stories of people who call the great state home. And Evans says he chose the infinity symbol for the shape of the sculpture to reflect the infinite cycles of travel.
“There’s always been someone traveling across this land, there’s always a plane in the sky now,” he said, “There’s always this never-ending journey.”
The sneak peek of the bags is also far from the final vision for them. They’re being treated with fire retardant and then painted in an array of colors mirroring the sunrise and sunset, said Evans, before the sculpture will be finished.
Each bag that’s going to be a part of the sculpture was carefully positioned within the piece by Evans and the team at Demiurge, an arts fabrication studio based in Denver. Evans and Demiurge also collaborated on the metal armature which gives the sculpture its shape.
Evans, who grew up a military brat and did his fair share of traveling, said he’s feeling excited for what this new stage of his career will hold given the difficult nature of breaking into the sculptural public art space.
You can expect to see this brand new sculpture in person early 2025.