Could Go Either Way
Found 6mm steel sheet, rubber, glue, paint, spray paint, hand welded bracket, screws.
These steel sheets formed the sides of a large crushed container I passed daily near my home. It caught my attention because although it was large scale, it looked like a squashed cardboard box.
This initial encounter, what Jane Bennett would call an enchantment, marks the first stage of my process. Enchantment is a moment of surprise, when an object’s difference and uniqueness generates a sense of wonder.1 Through this lens matter is not inert but lively, productive and has agency.
Passing by another day I noticed a man with a plasma cutter chopping up the steel box to make it easier to transport and dispose of. He offered to drop it off for free, this is how it came to be with me.
Moving the fragments inside the studio, various potentials of this material are explored. The focus of each work changes with the specific qualities inherent in each found object. The experiential qualities of weight and scale have been a focus of this work, however the intention remains the same, to provide an opportunity for the material to present itself; to be and be seen.
Display is a temporary state for these materials. Afterwards they sit with other collected objects that make up past and future works, where they spend time in a suspended state of potential. Over time they may find their way back into general circulation, to be ongoing, in the reality of an uncertain future.
Notes:
- Jane Bennett, The Enchantment of Modern Life: Attachments, Crossings, and Ethics. (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001) 4-5.
Mel Arnold 