Placeholder, 2021
duvet, rubber, spray foam, water, pump
Placeholder
Tight Spots
Tight Spots, 2021
towels, motors, rods, tubing
(site specific)
Humor and empathy meet in Tight Spots as each small towel sculpture toils away, “head down” working endlessly in an absurd yet relatable performance. As each piece in the installation works individually, yet in a similar manner, relationships are formed through space. The overtone is humorous, the undertone is the heavy monotony of tasks from home or the churning of an anxious mind.
On and On
On and On, 2010
dimensions variable
string, brass tip, motor, wood
A pull-string bounces over and over as if being tugged on and off. The simple pull string references attics, basements, luminescence and progress opening up the ideas around and relationship with this simple utilitarian object.
Knock Knock
Knock Knock, 2017
silk plant in basket, thread, motor, rod
Making Room
sinkers, over-the-hill birthday candle wax, thread, wire, motors, latex tubing
(site specific)
Making Room was the inaugural exhibition for PAR-Projects in Cincinnati, OH. The location informs the content and form of pieces. Thirteen large mechanized mobiles mimic the motion of bugs swarming. The motion of each small piece is connected to those around them creating an agitating, but a beautiful visual manifestation of interdependence. While activating the space, it references the highly coordinated manner in which a colony can move. Group coordination can be quite simple yet extremely effective toward solving complex problems (like an ant finding the shortest distance to food and others following that trail). At the same time, the presence of bugs can indicate deterioration and change. The “flies” are coated in black wax from birthday candles which celebrates as well as references the passing of time. Walking through the installation is slow and careful. Perception is heightened as the web like “swarms” seem to materialize and disappear. The presence of the viewer both activates and threatens the pieces. As the new space for Par Projects opened up, its past use as a lumber yard and the vacancy afterward transitions to new possibilities as the community works together to engage with art and makes space for learning.
Threshold
Threshold, 2010
dimensions variable
wood, brass knob, motor
A doorknob rotates occasionally pushing away from the wooden surface. The planks are simply leaning against the wall in a haphazard manner making the subtle, constant motion of the doorknob quite uncanny.
Over Do It
Over Do It, 2017
towel, motor, rod, tubing
Everything’s different when it’s over
Everything’s different when it’s over, 2013
dimensions variable
floor lamp, wood, thread, black wax, wire, sinkers, motor
A mechanized mobile creates an erratic circuit for a small piece of hanging black wax resembling that of a pesky housefly. The fly “buzzes” above a floor lamp that is leaning against the wall (neither fallen nor standing). The piece references quiet domestic entropy as the slumped over lamp is being hunted by the vulture-like light-loving fly above.
(It may help to make the video full screen and increase the quality as this is a subtle video)
Swarm
Swarm, 2013
6x6x14 feet
lead sinkers, over-the-hill birthday candle wax, thread, wire, motor, latex tubing
A large, mechanized mobile created site specifically for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum in East Lansing, MI that mimics the motion of a swarm of flies or bugs. A single motor slowly turns a wobbly wire apparatus which supports multiple pieces of thread occasionally holding a bit of lead and black wax. As the wire lightly catches on pieces of latex tubing, the whole piece wobbles and sways making the various pieces of lead and wax move slowly but erratically like a swarm of flies. All of the threads are attached to each other in some way, so the motion of one wire, thread or lead/wax “fly” always affects the rest creating an agitating but beautiful visual manifestation of interdependence.
Kept
Kept, 2014
Wool, cotton and down blankets, tubes, plastic, motor, black birthday candle wax, rare earth magnets, catfish line, spinner, sinkers, wire, motor, plastic tubing, soap
