Installation view of "Constructed Histories" curated by William Morrow at 301Studio, Brooklyn NY.
EVERYTHING THAT RISES, 2014, 32"x156"x156"
An object is said to be in balance when all the forces of physics (gravity, stress, tension, friction etc.) are neutralized by equally competing forces. These forces are constantly being exerted even while an object is at rest. The more complicated the object, the more forces are at work, and the more complicated the solution. This piece becomes a calculation of balancing the stress and force of a life lived at the margin, and the tension between the individual vs the collective. How do we balance all the competing forces to create community - how fragile, how tenuous the bonds that connect - and yet, it is possible.
History is a force as powerful as gravity. History is gravity. Economics is stress, race is tension, class is friction and progress is a wheel.
These chairs were salvaged from a container headed for the landfill. They are all different sizes, shapes and colors, the marks of a life lived are clearly visible on each - now joined with perfect symmetry into a form that seemingly defies gravity.
"Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge." Chardin, Pierre Teilhard De
