a place in the universe

The construction of time.

2012-01-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

I am really inspired by the work of Mark Formanek (above) and Maarten Baas (below). Both of these videos were featured alongside Eternity in the O'clock exhibition at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. They both feature performances of people literally constructing the time in real time. Genius!

You think of all the other ways that your life could have been, but will you marvel at the way that it has gone?

2012-01-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Woody Guthrie's New Years Resolutions from 1942 (from here)

(title is a quote from Cloud Atlas)

Now, 2008

2011-12-06T17:28:00.001-08:00

This is quick sculpture I made back in 2008. An oldie but a goodie, so to speak. It was made by cutting the word 'now' out of cardboard in cursive, and then cutting the letters apart and attaching them to hands on three separate clocks. The N is attached to a second hand, the O is attached to an hour hand, and the W is attached to a minute hand, and all the other clock hands are removed. The letters were intended to align once every twelve hours, but the mechanism that controlled the second hand was not reliable.

You are (on) an island (at Bowdoin College).

2011-12-04T20:58:00.001-08:00

Mike Fleming just made this beautiful rendering. We're proposing to temporarily install this neon sign on an island in a roundabout on Bowdoin's campus. Let's just hope the real thing will look half as good as this... and that Bowdoin's Campus Planning and Design Committee approves it!

Rendering by Mike Fleming

You are (on) an island. (Animated Gif)

2011-12-03T19:57:00.001-08:00

In a darkened hall, you're only who you say you are.

2011-11-20T13:01:00.001-08:00

(title is a from a song by Little Wings)

Bodies upon the gears.

2011-11-20T12:29:00.001-08:00

"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

(from Mario Savio's speech at UC Berkeley, 1964)

(Police pepper spraying student protestors at UC Davis on November 18, 2011)

You are (on) an island.

2011-11-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Made in collaboration with Mike Fleming, with help from Patrick Bolduc of Beacon Neon.

Meaning accrues in unexpected places. And drains unexpectedly out of others.

2011-11-09T15:11:00.000-08:00

(title is a quote from As She Climbed Across the Table, by Jonathan Lethem)

Turning the Place Over

2011-10-31T06:27:00.001-07:00

The artist at work.

2011-10-25T12:34:00.001-07:00

(photo by Mike Fleming)

'Eternity' on view at the Triennale Design Museum

2011-10-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Eternity (2010) is currently featured in an exhibition at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, Italy, titled O'Clock. Time design, design time. It is on view from October 11, 2011 - January 8, 2012. Check out designboom for images of the exhibition, and Mike Fleming's flickr page for some great shots of the installation.

You are (on) an island, 2011

2011-10-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

neon, scaffolding, PVC piping, generator

This is a site-specific installation for a flooded room in the WWII-era Battery Steele on Peaks Island, ME. It was made for the 15th annual Sacred and Profane arts festival, which occupies the abandoned army bunker for one weekend every October. The statement transforms as the word 'on' blinks rhythmically on and off. For the moments that single word remains unilluminated, a new phrase with a different meaning emerges - "You are an island."

Made in collaboration with Mike Fleming, with help from Patrick Bolduc of Beacon Neon, and Nick Riker, Tom Ryan, and Jeff Stockbridge.

Public lecture at Maine College of Art on 10/27

2011-10-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am giving an artist lecture at Maine College of Art this Thursday, October 27th, at 2pm. Every time I lecture I learn something new about myself and my work, so I'm really looking forward to it.

I cannot formulate the question that is my wonder.

2011-10-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

(title is a quote by Allen Watts)

Signs of time.

2011-09-29T06:10:00.001-07:00

Drunken Boat

2011-09-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Eternity was featured in the arts section of the most recent issue of Drunken Boat, an online journal of the arts. Check it out by clicking on the photo below!

Love and Eternity.

2011-08-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

People spend way more time looking at art on the internet than they do in person.

2011-08-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

For the moment, you may call me a one hit wonder. These are screen shots of my website's google analytics. An average day brings 5-10 visitors, and today brought 837. The spike in traffic is thanks to designboom.com, todayandtomorrow.net, notcot.org, journal-du-design.fr, smileinyourface.com, and others. They have all recently featured a sculpture I made with Mike Fleming in 2010, called Eternity.

What amazes me is that the average time spent on my site is nearly a minute and a half. This might not sound like much, but the average time people spend looking at a work of art in a gallery or museum is 4 seconds. Is the internet really making peoples' attention spans shorter, or is it allowing them to focus on one thing at a time? Which experience is more overwhelming - surfing blogs, or visiting the MoMA?

It's really hard to tell the short run from the long run.

2011-08-18T22:58:00.001-07:00

Unreal

2011-08-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

(An unrealized project by Felice Varini)

Half of a yay.

2011-08-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

(a Y and half of an A on one wall, butting up against a mirror on the other wall)

Check out the anamorphic type installation by Joseph Egan and Hunter Thompson.

'Eternity' has been featured on designboom!

2011-08-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

designboom is the "leading independent publication for design, architecture, art, photography and graphics" since 1999. Check out their feature on Eternity (2010) here.

Hi!

2011-08-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

A particular thing will certainly happen.

2011-08-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

(pencil and charcoal drawing of something that I might make sometime in the future)

Today, in a nut shell.

2011-08-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

3D Typography

2011-08-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

Eternity was featured on the 3D Typography website!
Check out the post here.

T_XT_RT

2011-08-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

"Red Sky at Night" by Tim Etchells

"Nah/Yep" by Cody Hoyt

"Unlimited Promise" by Christine Wong Yap

(These works and more were featured in the T_XT_RT exhibition at Jenkins Johnson Gallery in NY)

Journey, 2008

2011-08-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

9" x 12" x 10" (installation dimensions variable)

video of rapid eye movement, digital picture frame, battery pack, cardboard box

A video of my eyes watching the world go by continuously plays on the digital picture frame inside the cardboard box. The box can be shipped or installed in various ways.

Fun things happen when you meet in the middle.

2011-08-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

(photos made in collaboration with Mike Fleming)

Mechanical drawings

2011-08-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

Radiating Cylinder Yellow Profile and Kaleidoscope Cylinder, 2008 by James Bills

Barely legible.

2011-08-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

("Soapy Smith" by Edward Ruscha)

(when does text stop looking like words and start looking just like dots and lines?)

The way of progress is a disappearing path.

2011-08-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

("The way of Progress" by Nathaniel Shapiro
and "Disappearing Paths" by Richard William Wheater)

Obliteration

2011-08-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

(from Stefan Bruggemann's "Obliteration Series")

Live and Die

2011-08-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

by Bruce Nauman (1984)

The Plastic Box

2011-08-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

The following three photographs have been chosen for an exhibition titled "The Plastic Box," at Elon University in North Carolina. "A national juried exhibition exploring the proliferation of toy cameras, pinhole camera kits, how-to manuals for alternative photographic processes and the non-digital point of view of artists bucking 21st century trends."

Exhibition dates: August 22, 2011 to Nov.16, 2011
Public reception: Monday, September 5, 2011, 5:30-6:30

Equation, 2011

2011-08-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

12" x 60" x 2"
neon, plywood

oh, yes!

2011-08-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

(by Nick van Woert)

Truth is not told. It is a whole, and language fragments it; it is necessary, and languages are arbitrary.

2011-08-06T15:37:00.001-07:00

(title is from "The Ignorant Schoolmaster" by Jacques Rancier)

Carefully balanced on the edge of a hole in time.

2011-07-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

(title is by Lawrence Weiner)

Hello from camp!

2011-06-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

I have been busy learning crazy and amazing things about electronics and interactive technologies at ITP Camp in NYC. Here is a project I will be learning more about in a class tomorrow (it's a program that uses real time information about the whereabouts of subway cars to make music!):

Conductor: www.mta.me from Alexander Chen on Vimeo.

Things to pack for camp:

2011-05-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

wind sock

muscle wire
kick drum
colorful penant flags
generator motor
servo motors
60 rpm motors
solenoids
proximity sensor

motion sensor
scissors
x-acto knife and blades
cutting mat
glue stick
tape
paper
colored pencils and markers
my bicycle

Thanks to a Faculty Research Award from Bowdoin College, I am going to ITP Camp at NYU! I will be in New York for the entire month of June taking workshops like this. Yes!!!

Beware of the heights and depths of the universe.

2011-05-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

--> --> --> !

2011-05-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

(found here)

Some friends have four legs.

2011-05-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

For the reason that; since

2011-05-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Photo by Meggan Gould (from her Blackboards series).

The more I look at things, I cannot get rid of the feeling that existence is quite weird.

2011-05-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

These are snapshots I've taken with my newly acquired iPhone.
(The post title is a quote from "Learning the Human Game" by Alan Watts)

Make sure of all things.

2011-05-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

In pursuit of something elusive.

2011-05-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

"I think a great deal about what it means to be an artist.

I reflect on the elaborate psychological mechanisms required to pursue something so elusive, so ambiguous. I often wonder: ‘Am I talking to myself?’

I don’t make work for other people, but as an artist, I need to be in dialogue with the world that exists beyond my overpopulated cranium. I’ve concluded that to be effective-to be functional-I must guzzle an eye-popping cocktail of delusion and narcissism.

It occurred to me that being an artist is a great deal like being a dictator.

Just like a dictator, I must live in a closed loop of self-delusion. A place where my words and ideas always ring true. A gilded daydream of grandiosity. There can be no room for doubt. I must be convinced that I have something vital to say. I must believe that the world is waiting in keen anticipation to hear my message."

(This text is copied from the artist statement of Phillip Toledano, who also made that photograph of his daughter - read more about it here. Thanks, Genevieve!)

What it means to Wonder.

2011-05-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to notice (and accept) that writing and reflection are very important parts of my artistic practice. So I'm trying to embrace it. This is my abstract for a paper I would like to write for a session at next year's College Art Association conference in LA, titled "Chewing on Words: Reconsidering Text in its Materiality":

The “most-remembered” commercial that aired during the 2010 Super Bowl didn’t flaunt sexy women in bikinis or use computer-generated imagery or effects. In fact, it used hardly any imagery whatsoever. It simply showed text being entered into a Google search bar. The words and phrases appeared on the screen as though a person were typing them in – “study abroad paris”, “impress a French girl”, “long distance relationship advice”, and finally “how to assemble a crib” – and suggested a narrative that viewers were asked to construct word by word in just 52 seconds. This critically acclaimed ad cost Google more to air than it did to produce, but its astounding popularity and effectiveness are telling indicators of the power of text as a visual medium.

In this paper, I will explore how the use of text in time-based and interactive sculpture can give viewers the authority to construct a work’s meaning both individually and collectively, using my own artwork as primary examples. My work asks viewers to wonder about questions such as “what is the length of now?” and “what is the size of here?”. I utilize words that have more than one meaning (such as ‘now’ or ‘then’), or words whose meaning is so abstract that their definition amounts to almost nothing (such as ‘eternity’ or ‘wonder’). I invite viewers to construct their own understanding of those words through time-based objects and/or physical interaction.

Works such as The Length of Now (2008) and Eternity (2010) will be placed in an art historical context by comparison to Joesph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs (1965). Kosuth’s work will be used to illustrate Conceptual Art’s longstanding interest in the close relationship between language and image. It will also be used to demonstrate how a verbal description of ‘chair’ offers a viewer more room for interpretation than the image, which is very specific and leaves little to the imagination.

(Pictured above: The Length of Now, 2008)

(Pictured above: Eternity, 2010)

(Pictured above: Joseph Kosuth's One and Three Chairs, 1965)

Similarly, On Kawara’s “Date Paintings” (the Today series) will be used to exemplify how the meaning of text is largely determined by time and place (less specifically referred to as context). A work’s meaning during the time and place of ‘fabrication’ (which is another word that has a wonderful dual meaning) can be very different from a viewer’s experience and understanding of it at the time and place of its exhibition. Between Now and Then (2008) demonstrates how the meaning of such words is determined by a viewer’s position in space – ‘then’ can refer to both the past and the future.

(Pictured above: On Kawara's 19 February 2006, from Today series, 2006)

(Pictured above: Between Now and Then, 2008)

My interactive sculptures, The Ecstasy of Influence (2010) and Wonder (2011), will be used to illustrate the concept of intersubjective encounters as posed by Nicholas Bourriaud in Relational Aesthetics. Both of those works require the participation of more than one person in order for meaning to be constructed. One must be the ‘maker’ (or performer) and the other must play the role of the ‘viewer’. Because of this, meaning is elaborated collectively as opposed to individually.

(Pictured above: The Ecstasy of Influence, 2010)

(Pictured above: Wonder, 2011)

People are Wondering.

2011-05-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Footage of people interacting with Wonder at the Portland Museum of Art. (I love the dancing that happens towards the end!)

When's the last time you took one of these?

2011-04-29T11:55:00.000-07:00

(I just found this on facebook and I think it's brilliant. There are some ideas I really wish I had had myself.)

Where wonder came from.

2011-04-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

(This is the original drawing I made of Wonder in my sketchbook)

(This is the sculpture in progress in my studio - the white dots are made of computer paper I cut out and taped on so I could move them around and decide how the word should look)

Kinetic art is a very new field for me, and I have actually found the medium to be at once exhilarating and frustrating. Like anything that moves, such as your car, its fabrication requires a lot of precision. I received an immense amount of help with its assembly from a man named Robert Stevens, a colleague of mine at Bowdoin College. Bob is a supremely humble and helpful machinist, and he assisted me with the project's planning and problem solving when I first approached him with my idea. After I had mapped out the coordinates for each motor's location on the 48"x48" panel, Bob used a CNC router to drill mounting holes in those exact positions. He also fabricated many small plastic parts, such as the black arms that are attached to each of the 54 motors. Without Bob's help, I would never have been able to make this sculpture function. Many artists make work alone in their studios. Other artists, like me, sometimes require teams of people with different skill sets to help make their dreams a reality.

(This is how I figured out where the motors needed to be mounted - the different colored construction paper represents the different lengths of the motor shafts)

(This is Robert Stevens showing me how the coordinates I gave him were programmed into the CNC router)

(This is what the back of the board looks like now - a tangle of wires)

In addition to precise fabrication, kinetic art also needs constant maintenance and repair. Since installing this sculpture at the Portland Museum of Art, I have had to replace eight different motors that have broken for one reason or another. It is running so many hours per day, responding with movement to each and every person that walks by. Because of that, I check on the work at least once a week to make sure it is functioning properly. But I often wonder (no pun intended) about its lifespan. I definitely think of it as being alive. But the question is for how long?

(This is me repairing one of those broken motors during the installation)

How to discover your life purpose in about 20 minutes.

2011-04-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

"Here’s what to do:

Take out a blank sheet of paper or open up a word processor where you can type (I prefer the latter because it’s faster).
Write at the top, “What is my true purpose in life?”
Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose."

(I did not make this up. I found it here. I think it's so ridiculous it's kind of amazing.)

Setting sculpture in motion.

2011-04-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

I just found this video that someone took of my sculpture and posted on youtube. The woman gets so close to making the white dots spell 'wonder', but not close enough (literally). It's great to see that people are able to have fun with it either way. I also think this video demonstrates how this work requires the viewer to become a kind of performer. One person has to approach the work while another watches them activate it from afar ('wonder' is seen best from a distance... from up close it's like a pointillist painting). Looking is no longer passive, it is active. It is performative. Slight body movements towards or away from the work cause it to change. It asks you to dance! And it allows others to watch you dance!

And here is another video that shows Wonder in motion very close up. It's a 10 second commercial that the Portland Museum of Art made for TV to advertise the show. Now you can see what the experience would be like from that woman's perspective.

I will be making my own videos of the work later this week, and hopefully writing more about the performance of viewing, so stay tuned...

Everything is keeping time.

2011-04-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

How is a work of art altered by our looking at it?

2011-04-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

An excerpt from "Art Current: The Portland Museum of Art Biennial" by Brita Konau, published by The Free Press:

"Eggert's interactive piece I at first thought just artfully cute. On a black panel, small levers are set in motion, through proximity sensors, to spell out the title of the piece, "Wonder." Upon further reflection though, I came to appreciate the questions this work asks. How is a work of art altered by our looking at it? How are we changed? Is physical observation replaceable by perusal of reproductions? Can that still instill the same reaction, the same "wonder"? Questions that have not gone away since Walter Benjamin reflected on "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." For me the showstoppers are not the large, site-sensitive installations. Rather, they are the quiet, sophisticated works that ask you to look closely and spend contemplative time with them."

My first podcast!

2011-04-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

The Portland Museum of Art recorded and uploaded the artist talk I gave about my sculpture, Wonder (2011), on April 16th. You can listen to it here. (It's just under 7 minutes, so it won't take up too much of your time).

My next sculptural material....

2011-04-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

An ominous shadow.

2011-04-19T18:38:00.000-07:00

IT'S A PAINTING ON THE GRASS! (By Brigitte Zieger. Check it out.)

My art was on the news!

2011-04-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Watch the clip here.

Postcards

2011-04-19T10:08:00.001-07:00

Make a gif

Tourists (For Mike), 2011

2011-04-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Layla Marcelle Mrozowski&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;, Jamie Carestio and Jacob Raeder.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Made in collaboration with Layla Marcelle Mrozowski, Jamie Carestio and Jacob Raeder.

Review of the PMA Biennial

2011-04-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

The most recent issue of the Portland Phoenix included a review of the 2011 Biennial by Annie Larmon and Nicholas Schroeder. My work was discussed briefly on the 4th page:

"I'm applauding Alicia Eggert's kinetic sculpture "Wonder." The hum of electricity and whirling mechanisms really work for me against Wing-Sproul's wash of sound. The piece has an enigmatic quality that, combined with an engaging interactive element, careful execution, and good design, makes for an exciting finale to the show."

Read the entire article here.

oh, hello!

2011-04-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Genevieve Huba.
(And the whale t-shirt I'm wearing is by the talented Mr. Brown!)

"Wonder" at the Portland Museum of Art

2011-04-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

My most recent sculpture, Wonder (2011), is now on display in the 2011 Biennial at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. I am giving an artist talk at the museum this Saturday, April 16th at 2pm. I am also participating in the Meet the Artists: Family Gallery Talk (for kids!) on April 30th at 10am. See below for more information about the show, and for an image of my page in the exhibition catalogue.

This is exactly what I want to do, except with wind socks!

2011-03-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

tele-present wind from david bowen on Vimeo.

"This plant is called tansy, it’s an invasive species in Minnesota, and there is a single stalk, just like this one, in Duluth, Minnesota. It is blowing around in the wind as we speak. At the base of this tansy stalk, there is a device called an accelerometer, which measures x/y tilt. There’s actually one in the iPhone. [My recording device.] The plant stalk is blown around by the wind, which causes the accelerometer to tilt, and the tilt data is collected by a computer on the Minnesota side, and then sent to these devices in the gallery in South Carolina, in real time. The gallery installation is a recreation of the physical effects of the wind in Minnesota."

(found here)

Article on Bowdoin's website!

2011-03-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

There is a little write-up about me and my new work, Wonder, featured on Bowdoin College's website right now. Check it out!

The blue of distance.

2011-03-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

(Photo is by my friend Gary Wiseman,
Title is from a chapter in A field Guide to Getting Lost)

My favorite street corner in Portland:

2011-03-10T20:23:00.001-08:00

Student work from Fall Semester, 2010

2011-02-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

I took this snow day as an opportunity to organize and post images of the work made in my Architectural Design I and Sculpture I classes at Bowdoin College this past semester. You can see them here.

You already know what seems unknown; you have been here before, but only when you were someone else.

2011-02-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

(Quote is from A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit;
Images of Victorian Infographics found here)

The frontier is everywhere.

2011-02-22T19:39:00.001-08:00

(I think I am about to become obsessed with making gif animations!)

Rooms seemed hotter when he was in them, rains fell straighter, clocks slowed, sounds were amplified.

2011-02-22T18:54:00.001-08:00

(quote from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
(photo by Nina Lily Photography)

Your Magic Is Real (For Layla), 2011

2011-02-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

Made in collaboration with Mike Fleming.

We are growing up together.

2011-02-21T19:50:00.000-08:00

I am too young for this.

2011-02-12T21:40:00.001-08:00

Keeping track.

2011-02-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

Amazing clock made by I don't know who.

(found here)

Photograph as sculpture.

2011-02-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

by Geoffrey Cottenceau and Romain Rousset

(found here)

A new idea.

2011-02-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Imagine a jump rope that is circling endlessly in a dimly lit, otherwise empty room. It would use a mechanism similar to this one (so it can move on its own, without a person on each end):

and it would be made of a glowing white neon LED light rope like this:

And to top it all off, it would be running off of a motor that makes it spin at one rotation per second, so the rhythm made by the rope hitting the floor would mimic the ticking of a clock's second hand.

(Is imagining it enough, or should I go through the trouble of making it a reality?)

I like to look for rainbows.

2011-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

I've been told that I take having fun very seriously.

2011-02-06T12:30:00.000-08:00

Any takers?

2011-02-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

On the last day of my 20's, I bit the head off of a fish.

2011-01-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

(That's the smelt fish I caught, right before I killed it with my mouth.)

(Check out this NYT article about smelt fishing in Maine!)

(Photo by Mike Fleming.)

Wonder, 2011

2011-01-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

80" x 48" x 4"

Proximity sensor, servo motors, Arduino micro prcessor, electrical components, MDF panel, acrylic, house paint, spray paint, ink and graphite.

From a distance, the white dots appear to be a constellation. As a viewer approaches the work, they slowly move into position to spell the word wonder.

(Click on the images to see them larger)

If you blur your eyes, can you see what it says?

2011-01-13T20:45:00.000-08:00

I took this picture with my phone in my studio tonight. It's almost finished! More details and photos coming soon...

On the last day of 2010, I climbed a mountain.

2011-01-13T20:31:00.000-08:00

Photos by Jeff Stockbridge.

Working Drawings

2011-01-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

(2000 Ferrari F1 Engine Working Drawing by Tony Matthews)

Lately I've been really interested in technical drawings. What I'm working on right now is really complicated... it's a kinetic sculpture that uses 54 motors. I'm exploring how the drawings that I've been making to figure out how it will work can be works in themselves. Drawings like this one are really inspiring.

Before I die I want to...

2011-01-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Apropos of New Years resolutions... I recently stumbled upon a website that posts polaroids of people saying what they want to do before they die. It's amazing how many people say they want to write a book, travel, go to outer space, go skydiving, own a dog, be in love, or have babies. After looking through hundreds of these photos I realized I was getting frustrated by the fact that I wasn't coming across many statements that were unique or profound. I was actually surprised at how many of the things people stated are things that I have already done. But I guess that, when it comes down to it, no answer to this question could ever be that profound. There are certain limits to what a person can accomplish in life. And in the great scheme of things, publishing a book or having babies isn't really that remarkable. Everything that needs to be done has already been done.

Let's go studio!

2010-12-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm back at work after a little hiatus, and I am feeling inspired by the pictures of Anish Kapoor's work in his studio. I love to see the objects on those makeshift pedestals, along with the technical/diagramatic wall drawings in the background. It really shows how a studio can be sort of like a science lab. In this context, works of art look more like a series of experiments than refined, untouchable objects. I think they are a whole lot easier to relate to.

Images of Eternity at SPACE Gallery in Portland. ME

2010-12-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

This show officially ended on December 9th, and I'm taking it down tomorrow. It's been really fun to have my work up in a window that faces the street!

Our future is bright.

2010-12-11T14:57:00.001-08:00

Words that try to make sense of what I do.

2010-12-10T11:55:00.001-08:00

In addition to writing an artist statement for a catalogue that's going to be published for the 2011 Biennial at the Portland Museum of Art, I also had to answer the following questions:

Notes on process: How would you describe your artistic process? Feel free to discuss any aspect of the making of the work from concept to finish, choice of media and materials, etc.

Notes on content: What is your intent with the work, your hopes for the viewer’s encounter, the meaning or purpose for creating this work? What are your inspirations and influences?

And here is what I wrote:

Before you read this, you should know that I've probably already changed my mind. Changing my mind is one of my favorite things to do.

My work always begins with an idea. Where those ideas come from is up for debate. Do they come from within me, like magical beads of mental perspiration? Or are they actually just reflections of things that already exist in the world around me? I’m unsure. But my artistic process involves much more reading, observing, and plain old life-living than actual making. I notice, I wonder, I reflect, I plan, and then eventually I execute.

My ideas are often inspired by specific objects I encounter in my everyday life – clocks, Post-it notes, belly button lint, disposable coffee cups, colorful pennant flags, those wacky-arm-waving-inflatables you see dancing in the wind at used car dealerships… By employing devices and processes that are ordinary and familiar, I hope to encourage a certain level of understanding and participation.

My artwork primarily takes the form of sculpture, installation and interactive media. It often investigates time and change - the subtle, everyday evidence of time’s passing. Is time cyclical or linear, finite or infinite? How do we identify change? How do we quantify it? To me, time represents an accumulation of moments, an accumulation of ‘now’s. What is the length of now? What is its weight? What does it mean to be ‘here’? There is a subtle distinction between absence and presence. Now and then are one and the same. Our days are numbered by our daily rituals.

I make work that requires further investigation. I attempt to materialize the intangible. I hope to show that we can still find wonder in the world around us.

In honor of earmuffs.

2010-12-07T20:07:00.000-08:00

(pictures taken at the Chester Greenwood festival in Farmington, Maine, hometown to the inventor of earmuffs)

The art of words.

2010-12-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

Jenny Holzer came to town today to give a lecture and do a projection on the facade of the Portland Museum of Art. She started her lecture by saying something like, "Now I'm going to show you some pictures. Later you can tell me what they mean." She wasn't lying, either. For an artist who works mostly with text, she was a woman of very few words.

People do amazing things.

2010-12-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

This guy made his own roller coaster. Read more about it here.

"The principle downside to any zombie attack is that the zombies will never stop coming; the principle downside to life is that you will be never be finished with whatever it is you do."

2010-12-05T14:44:00.000-08:00

"Zombies are like the Internet and the media and every conversation we don’t want to have. All of it comes at us endlessly (and thoughtlessly), and — if we surrender — we will be overtaken and absorbed. Yet this war is manageable, if not necessarily winnable. As long we keep deleting whatever’s directly in front of us, we survive. We live to eliminate the zombies of tomorrow. We are able to remain human, at least for the time being. Our enemy is relentless and colossal, but also uncreative and stupid."

"...You can do this, my friend. It’s disenchanting, but it’s not difficult. Keep your finger on the trigger. Continue the termination. Don’t stop believing. Don’t stop deleting. Return your voice mails and nod your agreements. This is the zombies’ world, and we just live in it. But we can live better."

(from a brilliant little NYT article about how modern life is like a zombie movie)

Just a few of the ways that we lie to ourselves.

2010-12-05T13:43:00.001-08:00

How To Be Alone

2010-12-02T13:39:00.001-08:00

There are no maps for these territories.

2010-11-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

(image is a map that my friend Ryan Hinkel owns, and the title is taken from a documentary about William Gibson)