Prototype
2014
This series combines ancient methods of craft-making with contemporary, non-biodegradable materials to produce objects that speak to primitivism nostalgia, mass consumption of goods and ideologies, and the underlying production of petrochemicals that will all become a large part of our cultural heritage.
"Linear time" has always seemed dubious to me. Our rotation around the sun creates a cyclical, three dimensional sequence of changing events, not a linear progression. Time and space are inextricably linked. What if everything in the universe went to absolute zero, no atomic motion? Wouldn't time stop? What would Ötzi the Iceman have to say about this?
Right now I'm transposing ancient (neolithic, paleolithic and otherwise "primitive") forms with new, highly manufactured materials: Poly Vinyl Chloride, Stryofoam, Nylon, Flourocarbon, High Density Polyethylene, etc. etc. These "artifacts of the present" contain hours of weaving, carving, shaping, pleating, burning, honing, hammering and arranging. The petrochemicals speak of a complex Here and Now and many assert their molecular state for thousands of years. I am beginning to see these artifacts less as objects and more like solidified gesture. I hope they find a chink in the armor of Progress.
Single Seam ShoesAfter a pair found in Armenia, thought to be 10,000 years old.
Low density polyethylene
Peruvian, double overhand and single overhand stitches
Polypropylene, Nylon
After Preferential Lavallois flint knapping technique
Expanded polystyrene
Bow and Quiver of Arrows
After gear found with Ötzi the Iceman
Polystyrene, LPDE, Acrylic
After viking shape, and native Alaskan ribbing and skinning techniques
LDPE, Tyvek®, petroleum distillate, nylon
Temporary Shelter
After typical neolithic anglo-saxon shelter
PVC, nylon, LDPE, acrylic
Nordic Axe
LPDE, glass, nylon
Spear
After typical Neanderthal short spear
PVC, expanded polystyrene, nylon
Dagger and Sheath
After gear found with Ötzi the Iceman
PVC, expanded polystyrene, LDPE
Installation views from Prototype at BUOY Gallery, Kittery, ME and Vaporfolk Hollyvoodoo at the Lust Gallery, Vienna, Austria.