Art Work of the Month :: September 2012
This piece is currently being shown as a part of my installation for the Iona College Art Department Faculty Exhibition. The show runs at the Chapman Gallery in New Rochelle, NY. I get asked a lot about these pieces so I feel that it is timely to explain the process of how they are made, and what they represent. These pieces are a fragment of a larger concept based body of work that I call the ” Technophema ” series. The small sculptures are individually cast. They vary in materials like plaster, cement, fired clay, plastics, acrylic resin, and paper pulp. There are 18 individual pieces in total for this arrangement. All of the materials are synthetic other than the clay pieces. The clay pieces require a firing process, this process in and of itself is also synthetic and labor based. By pressing moist clay onto an old motherboard I carefully removed it and allowed for the air to dry it out a bit. Once the clay was firm I cut by squaring off the edges, hence these rectangular forms. I then fired the clay piece(s) and created a series of silicon rubber molds. This would allow for me to make multiples in a variety of materials simultaneously. The pieces are arranged on top of a free standing pedestal. So, what do the motherboards have to do with the concept? Motherboards are a lot like the human brain, they are the reason why all of the different part of the computer can and do receives its energy and power. This ultimately facilitates communication to and between all of the individual parts. This is a modular process, many parts come together to make up the whole. I believe that art and art objects can and do communicate the same way, hence this series of pieces. In the arrangement above, you will notice that the pieces are not glued down. I placed them all down by hand purposely making them vulnerable and unstable. As a viewer, one may be tempted to touch them, or pick one up, and if bold enough, take one. A lot like technology itself, there is always flux and expansion at speeds almost incomprehensible, much like “how” the computer chip generates its energy. We all may not know and understand how it all works, but we certainly EXPECT it work at all times! I am attracted to that.
Link to the Original Post :: http://wp.me/p2SFO-QA
