Mining the Edges of a Pre-invented Existence
on view at
Window (re/production|re/presentation)
March 18 - July 18, 201954 Broadway, Asheville, NC
(Henco Reprographics, south window)
Project Statement
The original printed image came to me matted and framed behind glass – one of many that was used to decorate the rooms of a local hotel. Presumably the image was chosen for its nostalgic narrative and non-threatening aesthetic, and maybe that is the kind of image that conveys comfort to travelers.
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| Original Print (blurry because it's behind glass.) |
Using a packing knife, I cut into the image to extract elements such as an evergreen tree, cottages, church-goers, and the formidable church steeple – revealing an underlying layer of white foam core. (Foam core is polystyrene product developed in 1957 by the Monsanto corporation, which is neither recyclable or biodegradable.) I reassembled the parts to make "Dazed."
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| "Dazed" re-purposed print with acrylic paint on board 16" x 20" |
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| Detail |
I created a digitized composite of the physical artwork using my flatbed scanner (which blurred out some areas and sharpened others.) I manipulated the image through use of the "magic eraser" and "content-fill" tools in Photoshop. The former tool selectively mines pixels and deletes them. The latter collects and reproduces visual information based on algorithms and artificial intelligence. Both tools struck me as perfect metaphors for how information is disseminated to a population.
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| "Mining the Edges of a Pre-invented Existence" digital composite. |
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| Detail |
Elements of the title, "Mining the Edges of a Pre-invented Existence" were extracted from the pages of Close to the Knives, a Memoir of Disintegration by David Wojnarowicz.
The final image has been printed onto vinyl, and is currently on display in the south-window of Henco Reprographics as part of Window (re/production|re/presentation), a site-specific minimalist exhibition space in downtown Asheville.
Window (re/production|re/presentation) is a long-term public art project that aims to stimulate thoughtful discussion around timely issues of re-production and re-presentation within contemporary art in the local community and beyond. The primary focus is upon works that repurpose found or archival source materials; challenge notions of originality and authenticity; stimulate perceptual phenomena through reiteration or duplication; implement re-photography as a critical component; or embrace re-production as essential to the work.
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