Senior Thesis Exhibtion: Idle
Zilkha Gallery (2009)
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Artist Statement
Idle was installed in the North Gallery of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
In Idle I tried to expand the relationship between humans and the objects in their environment by making simple machines that exhibit behavior associated with human emotions. I began this body of work by thinking about unproductive activities, such as pacing, fidgeting, and chatting. By making machines that perform these uniquely human activities, I intended to explore the possibility of transferring anxiety or listlessness onto objects.
To build these devices, I inserted electronic mechanisms into preexisting furniture and appliances. None of the items I began with were new. I started with objects that not only had character and a clear history of use, but had also been discarded, deemed unfit for their original purposes. With the addition of electronic mechanisms, these objects were able to perform new and unconventional functions. While I did not disguise these appendages, I took care to make the new material seem natural to the objects so that one could imagine that the pieces themselves had grown into their new roles. The intent of this was to imply a narrative in which these pieces were neither exclusively art objects nor consumer products but instead occupied a middle ground. In a sense, I envision these machines as strange pets. By starting with familiar objects I hoped to create an atmosphere that was simultaneously strange and familiar.