Statement 2014

Building Dwelling Thinking 2011

Energy 2010

This text accompanies the work I contributed to the exhibition:

My work functions as a philosophical examination of the human experience. The role of energy has emerged as a guiding parameter in this exploration. Energy, in its various forms, is a pervasive phenomenon defining us both as autonomous individuals and as an interconnected network of individuals. In my creative process, it often serves as a guiding principle for more widespread examinations of dynamic systems in our natural and constructed environment.

The works I am currently exhibiting at Smart lofts apartments&art draw on the aesthetic of laboratory equipment and modern architecture and design as visual source material. Both pieces include the process electrolysis, in which low-level electrical current passes through a fluid, thereby splitting the molecules and creating gasses. For this exhibition, the pieces use salt-water as the electrolyte. The electrolysis process was activated as part of the installation process. In X-electrolysis, the use of cork as a membrane between the upper and lower portions of the piece allows a gradual build-up of salt crystals on and around the connection layer.

I found a degree of resonance between my view of energy and Heidegger's conception of "dwelling" as described in the text "Building Dwelling Thinking". It is especially the sense of preservation inherent to Heidegger's description of "dwelling" in which I see parallels to my considerations of energy and it's role in our current human condition. I believe that how we, as a species, approach and deal with our need for energy will be of crucial significance in determining how we are able to preserve and care for our shared environment in the future; it is in this context that I am considering Heidegger's discussion of "dwelling".
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Each Artist in the exhibition selected a quote from Martin Heidegger's text "Building Dwelling Thinking" to accompany his or her work. I selected:
"We are attempting to trace in thought the nature of dwelling. The next step on this path would be the question: what is the state of dwelling in our precarious age?" -Martin Heidegger

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click here for images of my work in the exhibition
click here for the smartloft apartments & art website
click here for pdf invitation for the exhibition