Sunday, October 31, 2010

the origin of things

I've got a show that is already almost over (it ends this Thursday), but I never even wrote about it here! I didn't have time to produce any new work for this show, so I just compiled things that fit a certain theme. Above is my postcard for the show, which I printed on kraft paper.

Here is my writeup for the show (which I had a lot of fun writing):

Where do things come from? A factory is defined as a place where goods are manufactured. To manufacture means to make something. So, doesn’t that mean that everything was made in a factory of one form or another? When our minds first think of the word "factory", things like teakettles, basketballs, and milk jugs come forward. Other things, like love or trees aren’t so simple. “Trees!?” you say, “Why, those come from the right combination of air, light, water, and nutrients!” Ah ha, but where do those things come from? And what’s down there in the ground that makes those trees want to reach up above the surface? And, LOVE… how do we even begin to explain where its origins are? I’m telling you, it must be a factory of one form or another.

“The origin of things” is a collection of woodcut and linocut prints that is an exploration and commentary that suggests an answer to the question of where things come from. This theme of work originated by my realization that most people don’t know or care where the consumer products they buy come from or how they were made. Are there factories up in the clouds that spew out these goods that make our lives easier? And maybe food falls into this unknown-manufacture-void as well. Where did that salmon you ate last night come from? Was it wild or farmed? Guess what? Either way, it was a factory.

This art was made by Sara Schalliol-Hodge. And you should know by now where she comes from.
And here it is up at Modern Dwellers.