I Surrender,
Mixed Media Installation.
Edmonds Arts Festival Museum Gallery and Arts Commission Display Case,
Edmonds, WA
2009
My work has evolved out of the investigation of space. Predominately, the focus has been on installation based art making. This is but one facet of investigation where most commonly space exceeds the boundaries of conventional practices. Installation is most often not considered object related but rather engages a larger volume in which the viewer is immersed in the work. My attitude of making sculpture has not known this boundary. When making a sculpture I approach the space the same way I would in a room sized space, or a permanent public outdoor work like “You Are Here” which graces your city hall.
This installation is a collision between these ideals. How does one define where one installation or art experience starts and stops. This is easier to discern in the display case, but perhaps not so simple in the gallery space.
Imagery cultivated through a project I call the minus project has been the chief element dictating this installation. On the floor composed of 160,000, #8 rubberbands one can find an image that has been scaled up from the business envelope hanging in the back left corner of the gallery. This envelope was left on my studio door with a note on the exterior. On each side I traced around the perimeter of the text and then cut around the edges. Finally I opened the form to discover this composition.
In a similar fashion I approached this installation. I began with the envelope and moved to the form on the floor. This activated the space at which time I began engaging the space with objects and lines like one might use pictures in a collage or a blue marker to make a line.
In attempt to blur the boundaries between the various facets of my work this installation is a combination of microcosmic works, lamination drawings, minus projects and temporary installation.
I Surrender, strives to allow the boundaries between these works to blur.
How does one describe an object? Are words sufficient to explain an idea? It is often what cannot be said that I find the most perplexing as well as the most descriptive. The minus project focuses in on the microcosm as a site. Within these site-specific drawings I read all material prior to removal. What takes shape cannot be predicted. The object evolves out of a genuine relationship between myself via the act of “consuming” the data. Leaving behind a relic or hint of what that object is. These works are a direct reflection of my attempt to understand the content and form of these materials and ideas contained within.
This has proven to be a truly spiritual adventure for me where my relationship to the visual has finally begun to make contact with my understanding of the world. The first work was The Holy Bible; As Far As I’ve Read This Time. This bible is a bible I was given for my confirmation at the age of 8. It has traveled far and wide with me, mostly spending it’s time sitting on a shelf. It occurred to me that I was not honoring it by treating it this way and that to literally consume it’s data and remove the “content” from the “form” may indeed allow the beauty of the two to finally meet. This object is now a true record of the transmission of this information. This work has progressed through many texts now from Buddhist to Taoist as well as the everyday object or event such as the Election Results work or the note that founded the I Surrender installation. Each has allowed me to embark on an adventure to discover the mystery of what beauty can be found in between the information (content) and the object (form).
Upon arriving home I showed images of this exhibition to friends and colleagues. My greatest delight was a dear friend who wanted to know what the “vertical element” in the work Smiling; at my feet, “was.” It is in moments like these when one “forgets the name of the thing one sees” that we may truly have clear vision of the essence of things. We often see and associate objects with what they are before we even allow ourselves to discover how they are. It is my goal to give you this experience of wonder…even if only for a small instant.
