while we tap our feet or shift our weight

An exhibition with Meridith Ridl at the Holland Area Arts Council open January 13-March 5. The show includes many subtle familiarities and simple profundities. Stop by and see it if you have a chance!


My contribution to the exhibition…

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge of Vice Versa, 2011
rubber ball, string, motor


Currently, I feel so sorry for you in those hot pants, 2011
bistro table, table linen, wood, fan, brass vent


Bless You, 2010
feather, pepper, thread, motor, wood


In a Shaft of Sunlight, 2011
mug, drywall, laminante, drain, water, heat element


Will not stay in place, will not stay still, 2009
ink jet photograph

Plenum


Plenum, 2010
site specific installation
strings, paper pullstring tips, plastic buckets, water, ceiling tile, sprinkler, motors

My installation for Art Prize 2010 in Grand Rapids was at West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology (WMCAT). It consisted of two separate, but related parts–thirty pullstrings extending down through removed drop ceiling tiles and a dripping sprinkler. The space above a drop ceiling is called the plenum space. It is where all of the energy for the building is routed. Due to my interest in potential energy, overlooked objects and spaces, and site specificity, dealing with the top third of the space I was given was a natural progression.

Through the gesture of the pullstrings which extended from within the plenum space and the tromp l’oeil industrial sprinkler which bridged the two spaces, the piece alludes to things happening overhead–activating the plenum space. “Plenum” also addresses history as the removal of the ceiling tiles revealed the original plaster ceiling with layers of pealing paint and an old drop ceiling grid above the currently used one. I was also interested in the way the removal of the ceiling tiles broke the convenient drop ceiling grid.

Repetition is a common theme in my work. Repetitive motion as a vehicle toward a meditative way of viewing something. Even though the same thing is happening over and over, ideas can compound with each repetition. The last time I had a drip in my work it was immediately evaporated away by heat below a metal bucket (No Vacancy). This time, I decided to allow the drips to accumulate in a series of plastic buckets. Accumulation is a connection to history, pushing the idea of time further into the work. Time is in the history of the building revealed by the removal of some ceiling tiles, time is in the accumulation of water in the cluster of buckets and time is referenced by the rhythmic ticking of the drips into the bucket.

Ox-Bow

I’m out at the Ox-Bow Artists’ Residency for two weeks (9/5-9/18). I’ve really enjoyed the space and the air and the ability to clear my head a little bit from a busy post-gradschool summer…in short I feel like I haven’t been able to stop and think until now and it’s a really good thing! It doesn’t have to be far to get away!

Jeppe Hein

Sometimes it seems like someone makes all the work you’ve ever wanted to. Jeppe Hein’s witty, poetic and sometimes off the wall body of kinetic work has me throwing my hands up in the air and shrugging. I have sketch video’s of dust bunnies being pushed around by air. The screw in the wall is not an idea I’ve had, but quite similar. I’ve often thought of peep holes in the wall (although I didn’t resolve what was inside). Needless to say, I really enjoy Hein’s work and even had a chance to see a piece at the MCA a couple weeks ago.

Almost NothingFalling ScrewRotating Mirror Circle Let Me Show You The World

On and On

Installed at the Holland Area Arts Council June 3-August 1, 2010.

On and On, 2010
strings, motors, pullstring tips