Designed for General Use
Designed for general use takes an irreverent look at the variety of structures that we impose on ourselves from the corporeal to the municipal. I am continually amazed and amused by the specificity of functions amongst the devices that we, as a very sophisticated animal, are able to conceive of and produce; e.g. eyelash curlers, bidets, cranes. The level of complexity we have reached is dazzling. There is a presumption that with this sophistication we can contain, organize, and control our bodies, our lives, or even natural forces, yet in most cases that attempt at order is a tenuous one, be it in a suburban kitchen or in a desert triage unit. Some of the “devices” in the exhibit conflate systems of the body with those of public utilities, highlighting a certain unpredictability in the face of our intricate interventions to control elimination, contamination and transformation, to name a few.
Installation view at Don Soker Contemporary Art
Utility Panel #4: How policemen keep their shirts tucked in, 2010
canvas, thread, hardware, rope
36" x 24 x 3"
Utility Panel #4: How policemen keep their shirts tucked in, detail
Utility Panel #2; “…for the motor
does all the work and the light illuminates the goods.”, 2010
canvas, thread, hardware, light bulb, mop head
36" x 24" x 3"
Utility Panel #2; “…for the motor does all the work and the light illuminates the goods.”, detail
Utility Panel #3;
The nature of public health risks
has changed, 2010
canvas, thread, hardware, bandage
36" x 24" x 3"
Left: Self-contamination in a closed system (destroyed)
Right:
Storage Solution #436, 2010burlap, wire, tacksdimensions variable
Less consequential leak , 2010
steel pipe, rust-stained silk organza, thread, wire
40" x 6" x 8"
Private collection
Positive ion generator, 2010
found and silk fabric, thread, wire, hardware 24" x 18" x 4"
Private collection
Resistance, 2010
reclaimed wood, vintage electrical cord, found shears, hardware, graphite drawing
16" x 13" x 3"
Resistance, detail
Cover the Earth, 2010
reclaimed wood, found trowel, thread, pins, ink
13" x 15" x 6"
Please wait for further instruction, 2010
reclaimed wood, found steel pipe, graphite and ink drawing
24" x 14" x 14"