National Turn-Me-On Chalk
1" x 4" x 3", photographs, pool cues, custom box
Shaw Hofstra + Associates, Kansas City, MO
September - December, 2001
Kansas City artist James Brinsfield curated an invitational exhibit "Poptones" hosted at the architectural firm of Shaw Hofstra + Associates. He asked artists to create specific work addressing the theme and the space.
The office provides a recreational space for its employees equipped with a pool table and the necessary accoutrements. Using the pool cues as inspiration I created a photographic pool cue set, which functions much like a photographic wood block puzzle. Six discreet images can be formed turning the cubes around. The box was created by digitizing an actual flattened pool cue box and altering the lettering in the computer. One side of each cue has a circular opening allowing the piece to be functional as well. The art work practically disappears in the environment, but for those who discover it the project provides an unexpected moment of discovery as well as play within play.
30" x 6" x 3", punch card rack, punch card machine, photographs
The Old Post Office Gallery, Kansas City, MO
October - December, 2001
This is a site-specific installation in a gallery that once was a United States Postal Office. As my starting point I used the old punch card rack remaining mounted on the wall. In this installation time cards and post cards literally merge into one to become a metaphor for distance, both in space and in time. Digital technology was utilized to superimpose old post card imagery (stamps, dates, messages, images, etc.) over time cards. The resulting pieces were mounted on card stock and placed in the rack, where they could be pulled out and viewed by the audience. As most post cards are sent over holidays to friends and family at home in this display leisure is juxtaposed with work. Our perception of time is dependent on our physical and psychological space, which is referenced by the use of a time tracking device, the punch card machine.