The works in “Ruminations” are visualizations of time wasted.
“Ruminations on Time” calls into question our relationship to time and draws attention to our reliance on productivity and activity to tell time. The sculptures in this part of the series are visual representations of the passing of time while performing time-wasting activities encouraged in online communities – scrolling through Instagram, wishing someone happy birthday on Facebook, and pinning things on Pinterest without ever doing anything with them. Candles mark the passing of time and reference votives, transmuting the resulting piles of wax into memorials of time lost.
“Ruminations on Time” calls into question our relationship to time and draws attention to our reliance on productivity and activity to tell time. The sculptures in this part of the series are visual representations of the passing of time while performing time-wasting activities encouraged in online communities – scrolling through Instagram, wishing someone happy birthday on Facebook, and pinning things on Pinterest without ever doing anything with them. Candles mark the passing of time and reference votives, transmuting the resulting piles of wax into memorials of time lost.
To ruminate is to mediate or muse, to ponder, to brood. There is no completion to the thought, there is only the thought, performed over and over, often resulting in increased anxiety. It is simply the act of thinking, the work of thinking, with no conclusion. “Ruminations” is a series that labors over the ideas of work and time in the era of late stage capitalism. It explores the absurdity of this era, the impulse for constant productive action, and how this changes our relationship to time.
The series is split into two sections, “Ruminations on Work” and “Ruminations on Time.”
The series is split into two sections, “Ruminations on Work” and “Ruminations on Time.”
Still Life with Ice Cream Sandwich
2019
2 Hours
2019
2 Hours
A video of an ice cream sandwich melting over the course of 8 hours. The resulting video looks almost like a still because the additives in store-bought ice cream sandwiches are such that the ice cream never really melts – it just turns into a room-temperature foam-like substance. The scene is staged to be reminiscent of Dutch still-life paintings, noted for their themes of death and decay. The piece draws attention to the idea that it might be more difficult for us to contemplate our own mortality if the food substances around us don’t behave how they should.
Happy Birthday to Me (Tall Cake)
2020-
6in x 6in x 61in
PVC, 434 Blue Birthday Candles
2020-
6in x 6in x 61in
PVC, 434 Blue Birthday Candles
A single candle is placed into the top of the cake for each birthday message I received on Facebook for a given year. The candles are lit, “Happy Birthday” is sung, and the candles are blown out. Then the next year’s birthday candles are placed and the process repeats each year that I am on Facebook. The current state of the cake represents the years 2007-2019.
Do it for the ‘gram
2020-
20in x 18in x 7in
Candles
2020-
20in x 18in x 7in
Candles
Candles in the colors of the Instagram logo are lit and left to burn for the entire duration of me scrolling through the app.
Pinterested
2020
11in x 11in x 10in
Candles, Ceramic Duck, Plywood Project Board
2020
11in x 11in x 10in
Candles, Ceramic Duck, Plywood Project Board
A candle is burned over a discarded craft project for each of the 311 items I have pinned in my Pinterest account.
