Graphite and watercolor on hand-creased paper
18 x 14 inches
Drawing of a plan for a sculpture with a lens describing wormholes and curved space.
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Enhanced Version of Fig. 10.8 – p.164 from: A Brief History of Time 1988
2013
Graphite, colored pencil, pigment, paper, adhesive, mounted on rag paper; note: all papers have been distressed
32 x 21 inchesA detailed response to an illustration lacking articulation.
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S.O.S: Reloaded
2012
video document
produced with the art organization No Longer Empty and Bronxnet Televisionpremiered in:
“This Side of Paradise,” presented by No Longer Empty at the Andrew Freedman Home, Bronx NY, 2012This film follows the format of the original S.O.S, made in 2004. S.O.S. Reloaded asks residents from diverse neighborhoods of the Bronx his or her message to the President of the United States. Each person is then video taped staring into the camera while his or her heartbeat is audio recorded. In the finished product, the transcribed message to the President scrolls below each Bronx resident’s silent video portrait, while the amplified sound of the individual’s heartbeat marks each person’s words. S.O.S contains communication that is both personal and critical to the President, from the rich to the poor, straight from the street. A copy of this video has been sent to President Obama.
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The Funk & Wag from A to Z
installation view at The Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, TX
2012
excised printed pages from The Universal Standard Encyclopedia, 1953-56, by Wilfred Funk, Inc., archival water-based glue, paper
524 collages, each varies from 8 x 11 inches to 17 x 23 inches, installation variableA popular, vintage encyclopedia is processed to represent contradictory layers and logic of personal and public information. The images have been extracted from all twenty-five volumes of a 1953-56 Funk & Wagnall Encyclopedia and reconfigured as collages, unleashing the potentiality of images trapped by historical context. New political and psychological associations emerge in the black and white presentation that covers the walls.
VOLUME I No. 10 Playing Rockefeller Center
VOLUME I No. 17 Survival is a Delicate Act
VOLUME V No. 11 The Specter of Urban Decay Rises From the Rubble
VOLUME VI No. 15 Crusty Confucius
VOLUME IX No. 8 Please Do Not Touché
VOLUME X No. 5 Black Angel
VOLUME XI No. 11 No Appetite for Island Architecture
VOLUME XI No. 13 You’re Not From Around Here, Are You?
VOLUME XIII No. 9 Beauty and the Boat
VOLUME XIV No. 5 Undermining Frankfurt Kentucky
VOLUME XIV No. 12 Oil Spills
VOLUME XX No. 7 The Western Sahara
VOLUME XXII No. 9 Shadow Tail Shout Out, Furry Fury
VOLUME IX No. 11 The Revelers Would Have to Pay
VOLUME X No. 13 Sea of War-Monstruo de la Guerra
VOLUME VII No. 1 Gothic vs. Romanesque
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Cabinet of Craving
2012
white oak, antique English bone ware (circa 1843), footed silver tray, steel, pigmented dye, shellac
9 x 14 x 14 feetHomage to Louise Bourgeois, Houston artist and friend, Jesse Lott, and Victoria artist, Madeline O’Connor. Cabinet of Craving assembles cross cultural adaptations found in furniture, ancient motifs mix bred with nationalist symbols, all under the influence of addictions that shape historical destinies. This crouching spider like monumental sculpture pushes it’s abdomen vitrine to the ceiling and confronts with a grimace both comical and frightening. Just behind this decorative mongrel visage, of an English bulldog and ancient Chinese “gluttonous” taotie mask, is Victorian-style glass case revealing it’s curious diet, an antique 1843 teapot upon a silver serving tray. The sculpture is a hybrid monster born out of addictions and manipulations of empires, in this case, the Victorian English craving for tea and porcelain, the Chinese desire for silver and the insidious and illegal trade of narcotics that lead to the Opium War.
photos: Nash Baker, Exhibited in ‘Contemporary Asian Art: Texas Connections’ April 14-Sept. 16, 2012; Asia Society Texas Center
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Operation Paydirt/Fundred Dollar Bill Project
2006-ongoingOperation Paydirt is an artist-initiated project inviting children, families and communities to imagine, express and actualize a future free of childhood lead-poisoning. Central to Operation Paydirt is the Fundred Dollar Bill Project, a creative campaign advancing public education and community engagement through the creation and collection of Fundreds – original, hand-drawn interpretations of $100 bills. Fundreds represent the tangible voices of millions speaking to those with the power to end this national problem. The goal is to exchange the value of informed public voice into real resources to leverage 100% prevention.
Since 2006, Operation Paydirt’s initiatives have proven effective in engaging communities in the potential for change. This methodology can further underpin the work of the larger lead poisoning prevention movement by developing a massive citizen voice. Now, with the support of A Blade of Grass, a foundation that nurtures socially engaged art, Operation Paydirt is offering this creative momentum to support those with the knowledge and power to influence change towards lead poisoning prevention. MIT’s Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) is partnering with Operation Paydirt to create the space for a convening of campaign partners to co-create communications and movement-building strategies. The partnership with CoLab will facilitate the interchange of knowledge and resources between MIT and community networks. Moving forward, Los Angeles based Healthy Homes Collaborative is invested as an advising partner. Conversations with lead poisoning prevention experts are evolving to further anchor this national dialogue.
See operationpaydirt.org for the latest information.