My work reflects an interest in informal space, as it exists in post-disaster zones, squats in derelict buildings, public cruising grounds and slums. Drawing from the spontaneous, sprawling, entropic nature of informal space, I import forms and transplant environments in both public sites and institutional arenas. Through reworking of architecture’s logical structures of grids and materiality of strength and durability, I utilize tactics of accumulation, demolition, and ad hoc reconstruction to undermine the regulatory system that occupies the built environment. By altering the spatial expectations of each site, I transpose aspects of the personal into the public, the chaotic onto the organized and the abject into the visible.
In Project #12, I reference mall style food courts to include fictitious fast food stands, barely recognizable retail stores, and a dining area within the gallery space. I rework the entire mechanical infrastructure within the 1800 square foot space to form the illusion of failure and corruption though crafting, constructing, faux-finishing and fucking up the space. Handmade urinals scatter throughout the gallery; fake plastic trees grow in spontaneously awkward positions and barricades of stacked chairs form small interiors. In this proto-post apocalyptic scenario, I plant signs of habitation within the aftermath. A blanket tent equipped with a makeshift mattress and a lamp fashioned from an old fixture and a Café Bustelo tin provides such evidence.
In this hostile take-over of a run down space, I highlight the cyclical course of material. The mall typically functions as an icon for consumption, an uber-slick temple for retailers to sell and promote objects through surface appearances and the fashion identity of the consumer. In Project #12, I highlight the darker side of consumption and “make do” with its fallout. By repurposing deflated objects, I work to carve an alternative space for the viewers to identify. Men’s underwear and tube socks act as decoration, urinals are teamed up in pairs and flannel cum rags are staged throughout. Both current and outdated signs of queer culture infiltrate the room. Soiled clothing, crumbling advertising and glory holes emphasize a new value of the used items, as pathetic as they may be, and function as signals created by the implied inhabitants, rather than manufactured by the businesses.
As obstructions in the flow of waste, I arrange objects in Project #12 to imply a clog in the system of intended use, where the expiration of objects is flaunted rather than buried. And through a narrative of destruction and rebuilding, I offer an equivalence between the disposable character of material culture and the production of new forms. |