A new exhibit at ASU’s Art Museum is bringing Native American viewpoints into focus through an unexpected combination: sustainability and art.

“Do You Remember When?” opened Friday at the ASU Ceramics Research Center, with artist collective Postcommodity’s take on modern sustainability practices.

The installation is part of a larger exhibition called “Native Confluence.”

Peter Held, curator of the center, said, the connection between sustainability and Native American history was clear.

“Last spring, the curators were talking about shows with a theme of sustainability,” Held said at the opening reception on Friday night. “I thought of Native cultures that had practiced sustainability for centuries.”

From there, the project evolved into a three-part exhibition, “Native Confluence,” that would first feature Postcommodity, a group of four indigenous artists — Kade L. Twist, Steven Yazzie, Nathan Young and Raven Chacon.

Kade Twist said “Do You Remember When?” is important in a university setting because it adds an indigenous voice to the sustainability dialogue.

“The University kicked open the door in a cutting-edge way,” Twist said. “Until now, there’s been no inclusion of indigenous people in [the sustainability] discussion.”

Eddie Brown, co-executive director of the American Indian Policy Institute, said the exhibition brings awareness to the original ownership of the land ASU is built on.

“Any time there is an opportunity to provide information, to remind people that there were people here before all of this came to be and to be able to express ourselves through different mediums, is really a great opportunity to learn outside of the classroom,” Brown said.

A blessing was performed at the exhibition’s opening reception through a poem recited by ASU professor Simon Ortiz and a traditional song.

“At last a major research university is willing to see, acknowledge, greet and deal with the earth it rests upon and is sustained by,” Ortiz said, introducing the poem.

As cars and buses flew past the glass walls of Mill Avenue’s Ceramics Research Center, visitors of all ages surrounded the installation.

What they were looking at was essentially a hole in the ground.

It took two months, but the artists said they were eventually granted the permit to drill a 4-foot-by-4-foot hole in the floor of the research center.

Twist said the artists cut a hole in the institution, both figuratively and literally.

“We’re re-exposing the land, the culture [and] the world view,” he said. “We’re fostering new spirit and dialogue, working together for a new sustainable future.”

The slab of concrete that once filled the dirt hole was also on display.

“This is ours,” Twist said to the crowd’s applause. “We took it from them.”

Microphones were also inserted into the dirt hole and into a crack in the concrete slab, or what Postcommodity’s Nathan Young called “the instrument.”

Two microphones, one in the slab and one in the hole, provided feedback of the visitors’ movement. Sound amplified as the crowd grew and moved closer to the microphones.

Also audible was Postcommodity’s recording of a traditional Pee-Posh tribe song. As visitors moved about the room, the sound changed.

“This is a reminder that the room is alive,” Twist said.

Teresa Miro, a first-year intermedia art graduate student, said the installation is powerful because it challenges traditional art.

“It’s the simple idea of making a hole in the ground and how you can turn that into something more,” she said.

The next addition to “Native Confluence” will open Oct. 9, featuring artist Nora Naranjo Morse.

Peter Held said the artists’ collaborative ownership will make this project’s final result unique.

“This is just Act 1 of a three-act play,” he said. “This one you do need to come back to.”

Reach the reporter at jessica.testa@asu.edu.