Work statement: Every day we purchase, consume, and dispose of more items than we ever realize, without considering the resources and energy required to manufacture, distribute, and to dispose of the items upon which our lifestyle of disposability is constructed.
What if it all came back?
I hope that "Container" will create an awareness in viewers of the implications of mass consumption, while also informing them of the value of recycling. The Container, created from recycled plastic bales, dwarfs and envelops the viewer, absorbing and shielding him/her from the noise and distraction of the outside world and giving him/her a feeling of the scale of consumer impact on our environment. Because the enveloping structure has no roof, however, the viewer can see a way out by looking upward toward the sky.
This piece is created in the spirit of such artists as New York Sanitation artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles and sculptor Richard Serra, but with its own purpose, sensibility, and aesthetic. |