projo

projo, 2008
paper mache, rubber mulch, bolt

I can't shake the nature I see in busted elements of city infrastructure.
"projo" is the abbreviated local rag, the Providence Journal. Rubber mulch is made from tires and other rubber waste. It retains its color and doesn't decompose. I've "planted" this pathetic, denuded signpost in synthetic landscape mulch both as portrait and monument.

Square Peg Round Hole

Square Peg Round Hole, 2008
wood, soil, sod


Laser cut MDF tree grate, flocked with sawdust references cast iron texture and biodegradable planters. One square foot of lawn is caged within it. A reflection on the contrived spaces for "nature" in urban environments and the friction between the built world and wilderness.

The Difference Between a Cinderblock

The Difference Between a Cinderblock, 2008
Ash, epoxy putty, foam, rebar, cast concrete.

Two "prototypes" of the voids within a cinderblock are "weighed" and compared. Directly below sits a cast concrete form. The cast form matches the dimensions of a cinderblock, but solid of course. The thin shelves cantilever about 4' off the wall with a 1/4" space between them. The space is dramatized by a black-burned edge. The vertical element of the shelf is invisibly attached to the wall.
(This is a bad studio shot.)

Fountain

Fountain, 2008
wood, oil

Hollowed logs filled with black oil. Over the 2 week installation, the oil saturated the wood, rendering the cut edge almost black.
I hoped to create a truncated forest of self-reflecting pools.

The coolest picture ever taken of me...

Photo credit: Sean M. Gannon. Ithaca, NY. 2006

Filter

Filter, 2008

Plywood, cedar, dowels, wire, weed barrier cloth 84 x 22 in.

Drain, 2007

Drain, 2007

CVG Doug Fir and expansion joint (think sidewalk cracks).
30"x 32"x 4.5"

I've been taking photographs of industrial job-lots in Providence. This piece is a hybrid image of several storm drains and sewer grates. Clear Vertical Grain Doug Fir is the most prized variety of a very common construction wood. I executed some fairly delicate joinery with it and translated a similar amount of attention to the tarry fiber material.