| Environment Description NeckFace consists of four sculptures that evoke the vagina dentata (toothed womb) in many ancient ritual myths: a threatening deathtrap that transforms into a cocoon of rebirth. The sculptures imply that generally neutral environments (bed, building, burg) can become excruciatingly threatening. In BED, lamp wire woven around 5 insulated lcd screens create a golden larva that lies on top of a pupal bed. The progression of video channels in this sculpture reflect the progression of insomniacal thought: from reviewing a situation moment by moment, to slowly filtering out the most active moments, to stretching out the most significant sensory moments. Not all of BED's channels are easily seen, implying the need for privacy and hiddenness in such an intimate setting. In BUILDING, two tall metal hives house a variety of small creatures and animations (on small lcd screens). Cast in dental-gelatin, BUILDING's creatures are based on prototypes of a 3D-modeled larval-poultry hybrid. BUILDING's animations consist of the larval-poultry hybrid slinking around variations of itself and around the photographed poultry previously used in BED. To percieve any of the hive's objects, visitors must slip open a slitted, elastic piece of cloth that shrouds each cell of the hives. BURG features a rough-hewn, oblong surface of undulating mechanical skewers that evoke topography. Like all of the sculptures in this series, each of which exhibit some sense of privacy and even aloofness, BURG responds to visitors by becoming "shy"--upon a visitor's approach, its needles will freeze and barely move in place. BIRDS evokes a yearning for rebirth or at least relief, but acknowledges that even rebirth and relief can be marked by complication. A succession of translucent plastic screens (cut out in the silhouette of the larval-poultry model) cascade from a oblong stretcher frame hung from the ceiling. Projected onto the screens are instances of model, arranged to blend into the cut-outs, programmed to move according to a performer's voice. (Or, in the case where there is no performance, BIRDS will be a stand-alone installation where the animation is controlled by sounds in the surrounding environment.) |