What would you do if you stood in front of an elevator and the door opened to reveal a painting... on the floor... of creatures that you usually ignore? My current installation in Anderson Hall at the University of the Arts presents you with 19 pigeons painted on plain white panels on the floor.
There are two issues at stake, how will you approach the work, and what will your impact be? As you can see from the picture below, the impact is pretty significant when large numbers of people are involved. The first picture is from right after installation, the second from less than 24 hours later.
After the panels have become significantly dirty I, as the party responsible for placing them in this situation, attempt to clean them by hand. It is impossible to fully realize this goal, and after several cycles of degradation and reclamation, it becomes apparent that it is a hopeless enterprise, but what else can I do? These things are dirty because we are dirty, and no amount of effort on our part can reclaim what was lost. This is both a metaphor for a particular situation as well as the larger story of human interaction with the rest of the natural world.
To see a slide show from the first week of this piece, click here. There will also be a video element to the piece soon, as well as a second piece that grows out of the first, so check back for updates.
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