Doctor and Patient
2012
repurposed media
Doctor Patient
]H=32 inches H=32 Inches
W=19 inches W=21 inches
L=19 inches L=19 inches
Firstly, this is an entrant into a Juried show….no….I take that back. This is an unfulfilled work from 2011`s Robotany Show. It just happens to work well with the theme for the juried show: `Art and the Garden` coming up next month. At this time, it has yet to be accepted or declined, so I get to enjoy a pensive state while typing this entry; I get to wistfully endure a weeks wait for the results….
I can`t imagine that it will be declined, but then again, it is a juried show. One way or another it`s already a success as far as I am concerned. As well, its creation took on some new twists interesting detours. Typically, when I begin a sculpture or 2D work, I have an pretty good idea of what I`d like the outcome to be; though I still leave room for experimentation and happy accidents. Those are more often than not where the `art` comes into play…otherwise, it`s more about the performance of an artisan, the skill and craftsmanship which contribute to art, but are not the art itself, The art itself is to be found somewhere in the journey of all of these elements….but I digress….
Again, typically, there is a destination in mind when I work, There is also an allowance for experimentation, trial and error, and for the work to inform me about where it needs to go. Sometimes this changes the route; other times it changes the destination. This time it changed both.
Possibly the biggest contributing factor to this was only being able to spend a limited amount of time on the piece per day/night. Often this lay in time stolen before and after my non speculative money earning, which involved 9-12 hour days 6 to 7 days a week. So really, I was only able to spend generally a maximum of 2 hours at a time on this work. This induced a lot more reflection and plotting time, and far less trial and error. Magically, things went right on the first attempt a lot of the time. Parts almost literally fell into place. I recall one instance of breaking one part of a material off from its whole only to find that by doing so, the scrap portion turned out to be usable for yet another portion of the sculpture. Talk about a lucky break!
Additionally, there was a synergy between the job I was working (which involved `junk` removal) and this artwork. I was able to find parts and material in the dumpster which I would never be able to find in the building supply and hardware stores which I was frequent for the `job` I was working. However, while picking up parts for said job, I began looking at certain materials in stores in a different way; noticing, for instance, that a multi-directional faucet aerator nozzle made for a perfectly prefabricated ball joint. This meant that I didn`t have to spend precious time making one from scrap materials.
Weirdly enough, materials and their values started trading places. The parts that I found in the dumpster were one of a kind, and though free of charge, could not be replaced; therefore they became priceless. On the other side, though I had to spend money on the parts from the hardware, I knew that if I screwed them up, I could just go and get more anytime, so their pricey-ness seemed to lessen. Weird. Trash became of great value, and priced items became trashable.
The net result is possibly one of my strongest works to date. The intermingling of recycled and store bought components is fused seemlessly within the realm of repurposing. Oh, and though physically exhausted 90% of the time I worked on this, it was a lot of fun to create. I only hope that it finds an audience that shares the laughter and contemplative joy that was mine during its creation. Enjoy!
