mouth piece series

I am interested in function as a point of access for the viewer and an opportunity to create meaning. It’s important to me that these pieces are not red as sculpture to be observed, but that they invite the viewer’s participation, whether actual or imagined. It’s through this engagement that the function of the piece is considered and the meaning of the work is revealed.  I want to make objects that through their use comment on aspects of our existence, our experiences, our interactions, our bodies.

The double mouth pieces are a set of objects with impressions of a face on each end. Because of the absence of the straps the only way to use one of them is for two people to stand in very close proximity to one another, wedging the object between their faces, which can be uncomfortable or even suffocating. These objects undermine themselves through their own use; they beg engagement between two people only to reveal the difficulty of it. 

Double mouth piece 20 has an inflatable volume to which two masks are connected. The openings of the mouths are equipped with one way valves so that the air/ words that go into and mix in the balloon do not come back out. This device puts two people in proximity but at a distance, the physicality of which is compounded by the psychological distance that is created by the complexity and the awkwardness of engaging the object.

Some of this work is included in Replacing Home at JAUS curated by Jennifer Johung. Download Replacing Home catalog with curator’s essay.

13 images, 2009-2010