$2750 - Measures 35 x 21.5 x 5 inches. Made of sheet metal from cars, machines and signs. All of the selected objects are circular to enhance the sense of motion. This piece is designed to keep your eye in constant motion. See description for more details.
Social media is a realm of perpetual motion. The constant data feeds keep fingers busy, eyes rolling around in their sockets, and brains being bombarded with – stuff. This extremely busy piece puts the viewer’s eye in constant motion, making it difficult to focus on any one object or make sense of it. It is my critique social media.
Each object is affixed to a different piece of sheet metal cut into shapes that simulate political borders, like on a map. This gives the objects their own boundaries and indicates that they are their own data feed. The objects were carefully selected, all of which are circular to further enhance the sense of motion and speed.
Like things found on social media, some of the objects selected are familiar, others less so. The pool balls and marbles indicate the fun and games aspect of social media. The shell casings (bullets) and FIRE sign represent how data is injected into the stream, in little packages often with unnecessary drama and urgency, capable of inciting misguided action and unintended consequences. The speedometer is reading past its maximum mark of 140 MPH indicating a rate of travel beyond sensible speed. A horn button represents those who comment (honk) boldly, safeguarded by anonymity. The telephone dial attempts to tame the madness by referencing a time of one-on-one conversation rather than the hollow blast communication style of social media. Many of the other objects are only eye-catchingly distracting, and may not have any meaning at all – sort of like cat videos.
