2021 research for playing outside - Academy Lofts Atlanta GA
research for playing outside is an exploration on how smart devices are affecting our humaness. The installation consists of three marble soccer balls depicted at different levels of deflation placed on the floor and seven qr codes mounted on the walls. The exhibition space is a studio apartment inside a recently renovated school.
The soccer ball represents the freedom of playing outside and development of character through interacting with the environment. The sculptures are carved from marble through an intensive manual production process to depict soccer balls at different levels of deflation. The three sculptures elude to a family nucleus existing inside, moving around all at different stages of a lifespan. The slick, cold, translucent quality of the marble reads as flesh or leather that has not been exposed to outside elements. The sculptures are metaphors for a life spent inside one's phone.
The QR codes act as transmitters. They lead to research articles pertaining to different aspects of how smart devices are affecting our well being and mental health. They are the polar opposite of the expressive sculptures and are only interested in communicating information. It is once viewers have interacted with their environment, the sculptures in space, that they interact with the QR codes. They disappear into their phones trying to decipher the meaning of the articles, mirroring the marble soccer balls. The viewers become part of the artwork.
It is in the dichotomy between the sculptures and the qr codes that the work presents a platform for contemplation and conversation. We are developing smart device technology at an exponential pace making aspects of our life easier. At the same time we have primal and animalistic instincts. The work does not indicate a right or wrong direction yet promotes the conversation around growing dependence of smart devices.
2020 HOW TO FIX AMERICA - DriveTru ATL Atlanta GA
