Distance to the Body

Distance to the Body is a scale model hospital environment. This work is intended to isolate and abstract the space of the hospital in order to underline the growing distance between patient and doctor. A hand no longer holds the scalpel. Eyes no longer trace the intrusion of disease. While in the space of the hospital the body is suspect. Machines act on the body, observe its interiority, strip away its layers and penetrate its depths. Ultimately, this act is in an attempt to repair its structures, balance its chemicals. The MRI, CT, and haptic surgical suite, re-present the body to a divided audience, the patient and the doctor. A mediated gulf drifts between the two as more and more the body is viewed through other eyes.

Action Potential is a sculptural and electronic installation that seeks to recreate, on a limited scale, the movement of information through neuronal structures in the human brain. The piece uses microphones and speakers as crude receptors and senders. The result is a light feedback that changes slightly in volume and pitch when a viewer moves close to the piece. Feedback, in this case, may not be a bad thing as the human brain makes constant use of feedback.

Floaters is a sonic and sculptural installation based on the biological phenomenon of vitreous floaters. The rods and cones of the eye are represented as delicate wire, mesh, and fiber structures that cling to the ceiling of the space. Audio emits from both rods and cones and video screens invite the visitor to move about, effectively becoming floaters themselves.

Office is an installation environment that invites the visitor to play at business. Media portrayals of the business world push the idea of office real estate. The goal in these narratives is the corner office with a view rather than better business. In this installation the visitor is confronted by a cramped space that is full of folders, papers, and abused office equipment. It is the polar opposite of the mediated office. The tiny window affords no view at all, only a blank white space. It is an aging or forgotten space where the occupant can hear only half a conversation on the faulty phone.

Aerial Presence is an electronic artwork highlighting issues of surveillance and the simple presence of surveillance, panoptic. The piece is comprised of a helium filled blimp, an electronics board, sensors, and motors. A small camera attached to the blimp acts to survey the space of the gallery, but is inoperable. The blimp is blind. However, its presence is all that is needed for surveillance, much like the silver dome in the department store may or may not contain a working camera.

TCM is a sculptural representation of mental mapping processes. It specifically deals with issues of memory, space, and liminality. The wooden spires are well-mapped areas, bundles of details about a locale. The taller spires are locales where an abundance of information has been collected and retained. The smaller spires are the reverse, locales experienced only occasionally and with less complete maps. TCM, on a whole, is a snapshot or still image of ones internal map. Audio has been introduced to instill a breadth of time to an otherwise static representation.