Biography
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Artist Statement
It’s early evening on a chilly December day, and I’m sitting at my kitchen table, scanning the multitude of jagged puzzle pieces lying underneath the warm reading light. With one crucial location in mind, I examine pieces for the perfect shade of yellow; I look for the correct granular texture; I search out the ideal shape. At last, I hold up the single piece that completes my quest – at least, until I begin the search anew.
I conceptualize my artistic work as a puzzle. Puzzles prioritize connections, placements, and clear resolutions; many diverse elements harmonize in the united whole. But puzzles – much like my art – actually balance two different aesthetic philosophies. A completed puzzle naturalizes artistic production; the finished puzzle should obfuscate the labor involved in its creation. Yet the joy of the puzzle comes from that same labor, that same process. My work as a teacher, as an artist, and as a professional filmmaker engages with this paradox.
One of my past projects, “100 Foot Film #2,” highlights this tension between creative product and creative process. Shot on 16mm film, the project reveals the strategic movements of colored game pieces. Originally located in blocks of color – green against red, blue against orange – the pieces at first act according to color theory. Yet as the film continues, a new set of game rules apply, and the color blocks begin to fight according to the rules of chess. This elaborate set-up was labor-intensive, requiring hours of careful orchestration; however, the final film appears to be a simple game. My goal was to investigate the repurposing of lexicons – and this distinction between process and product helped achieve that goal.
My current work considers the same question through a new framework: how do we balance mediated and unmediated experiences of art? My current video installation project, “Modern Addiction,” builds on my interest in the shifting acquisition landscape and its role in the creative project. The project incorporates numerous forward-facing cameras hovering overhead on a graceful mobile. As more galleries and museums see visitors viewing artwork through a physical lens, this project pushes back. Viewers interacting with the project become subject to surveillance by others, their selfies visible for all to see.
Looking forward, I hope to shift the question slightly again, examining the tension between medium and message in the face of emerging technologies. I found new energy for this question by working with a group at Emerson to develop a new Virtual Reality Lab, honing my pedagogical and professional skills in point cloud capture, 3D printing, virtual reality filmmaking, and 360° storytelling. In a future project, I hope to investigate connections between point cloud capture and augmented reality, using the technology to take impressively large-scale objects to an understandably human scale with unprecedented levels of detail.
What is the right balance of product and process? mediation and direct contact? medium and message? As a teacher, these questions emerge in every class; as a filmmaker and artist, they are inherent within every project. My goal is to destabilize these questions, and instead expose the fault lines and the tensions that exist on the boundary.
I conceptualize my artistic work as a puzzle. Puzzles prioritize connections, placements, and clear resolutions; many diverse elements harmonize in the united whole. But puzzles – much like my art – actually balance two different aesthetic philosophies. A completed puzzle naturalizes artistic production; the finished puzzle should obfuscate the labor involved in its creation. Yet the joy of the puzzle comes from that same labor, that same process. My work as a teacher, as an artist, and as a professional filmmaker engages with this paradox.
One of my past projects, “100 Foot Film #2,” highlights this tension between creative product and creative process. Shot on 16mm film, the project reveals the strategic movements of colored game pieces. Originally located in blocks of color – green against red, blue against orange – the pieces at first act according to color theory. Yet as the film continues, a new set of game rules apply, and the color blocks begin to fight according to the rules of chess. This elaborate set-up was labor-intensive, requiring hours of careful orchestration; however, the final film appears to be a simple game. My goal was to investigate the repurposing of lexicons – and this distinction between process and product helped achieve that goal.
My current work considers the same question through a new framework: how do we balance mediated and unmediated experiences of art? My current video installation project, “Modern Addiction,” builds on my interest in the shifting acquisition landscape and its role in the creative project. The project incorporates numerous forward-facing cameras hovering overhead on a graceful mobile. As more galleries and museums see visitors viewing artwork through a physical lens, this project pushes back. Viewers interacting with the project become subject to surveillance by others, their selfies visible for all to see.
Looking forward, I hope to shift the question slightly again, examining the tension between medium and message in the face of emerging technologies. I found new energy for this question by working with a group at Emerson to develop a new Virtual Reality Lab, honing my pedagogical and professional skills in point cloud capture, 3D printing, virtual reality filmmaking, and 360° storytelling. In a future project, I hope to investigate connections between point cloud capture and augmented reality, using the technology to take impressively large-scale objects to an understandably human scale with unprecedented levels of detail.
What is the right balance of product and process? mediation and direct contact? medium and message? As a teacher, these questions emerge in every class; as a filmmaker and artist, they are inherent within every project. My goal is to destabilize these questions, and instead expose the fault lines and the tensions that exist on the boundary.