Porcelain Towers (2021)
Porcelain Towers
2021
Single Channel video
26 min, loop
In this recorded performance, I'm kneeling in a dark room and surrounded by small porcelain sculptures that are shaped like abstractions of vertebra. Throughout the performance, I am attempting to stack the organs and irregular porcelain sculptures into a single tower over and over again. Invariably, each tower eventually collapses with a startling sound that breaks the silence of my concentration. Each time, I calmly begin the process again, exercising persistence in the face of repeated failure and, perhaps, futility.
The porcelain sculptures themselves were created while I was recovering from my 13-level spinal fusion surgery. Immediately after surgery, it was required that I walk five times a day for six minutes at a time (longer as I could tolerate the physical exertion and pain). As such, each sculptural piece became a physical manifestation of those six minutes, and was imbued with the pain and healing that occurred simultaneously during each walk.
2021
Single Channel video
26 min, loop
In this recorded performance, I'm kneeling in a dark room and surrounded by small porcelain sculptures that are shaped like abstractions of vertebra. Throughout the performance, I am attempting to stack the organs and irregular porcelain sculptures into a single tower over and over again. Invariably, each tower eventually collapses with a startling sound that breaks the silence of my concentration. Each time, I calmly begin the process again, exercising persistence in the face of repeated failure and, perhaps, futility.
The porcelain sculptures themselves were created while I was recovering from my 13-level spinal fusion surgery. Immediately after surgery, it was required that I walk five times a day for six minutes at a time (longer as I could tolerate the physical exertion and pain). As such, each sculptural piece became a physical manifestation of those six minutes, and was imbued with the pain and healing that occurred simultaneously during each walk.
This piece is currently on view at the Arlington Arts Center (Arlington, VA) as part of my solo exhibition Body, Joy, Cage, Scar. Learn more about the exhibition by clicking the button below:
