ABOUT THE WASTELAND INSTALLATION:
I have long been drawn to what might be called “post-apocalyptic” imagery and narrative; fascinated by the awful, and beautiful, and simple truth that nothing lasts forever. Coupled with (and strengthened by) this fascination is a strong interest in both astronomy and physics; two areas of study that seek to explain that which (at least thus far) is unexplainable, and to understand our place in the universe. It is the combination of these interests that lead me to this work; to the creation (at least in part) of my own civilization. This place that I have created (which I call “GeoDin” in my notes, though it is not referenced in the work itself) follows its own set of rules and natural laws. The Waste Land represents a re-imagined landscape that differs fundamentally from what we think of as reality, but is nonetheless intended to reference both our world, and its future.
WHAT IS NOT THE COLOR OF GRASS?
THE WASTELAND is a pedestal-based installation consisting of a series of otherworldly machines [each of which are incomplete, cracked and broken, and clearly obsolete] being overgrown and pulled apart by strange and alien plant-forms. The plants are vine-like in concept: growing up and around what is left of the machines, breaking through pedestal walls and leaving large cracks and fissures. They have a geometric construction, intended to emphasize their separation from what we think of as reality.
The bright coloration, transitioning from yellow on one side of the room, through orange, to red on the other, is meant to serve a similar purpose. When designing these plants, I wanted to create a life-form that felt completely different from what our world actually produces, which lead me to the question: “What is not the color of grass?”. At the same time, however, I wanted them to be cohesive and convincing; I needed to create their entire life cycle and base it on a set of pre-determined rules. The color also serves as a timeline indicator [the GeoVines becoming darker as they age] and gradates within the individual pedestals, and across the room as a whole.
The lighting is both specialized, and very important. Created using many LED spot and flood lights (each with various lenses, masks and filters), it is meant to imitate the effect of sunlight streaming through a broken wall. Overall, the scene is one of post-apocalyptic mystery; the undisturbed leavings of a lost civilization.
Further information on the individual pieces, their meaning/connection to the underlying can be had by visiting the pages for each individual piece; information on how they were made can be found by clicking the "See Drawings, Plans, and In-Progress Shots" buttons on each of these pages.
