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 Small Projects

Shiny Red Log

A log I made to create a sculpture with the Woodsman of Shandaken but in the end didn't feel like it. So now it's just a shiny red log. 10 coats of automotive lacquer.

atomium 09

First art made in Antwerp, a lino cut print of the Atomium

unelect 08

Some (anti) John McCain posters for 2008.

Topsy

Electro-mechanical animation of Thomas Edison electrocuting Topsy. Shown at Exit Art.

One Lap = 1/3 Mile

Silly video for ArtistsWanted at 3rd Ward (Bushwick)

Unfortunate Occurrence

A reprise of the Inflate/Unfortunate Occurrence installation with Leslie Clague at a one night show  in Pittsburgh

Woodsman of Shandaken

A video/photo collaboration with Sarah Lippek at a weekend retreat at free103point9's Wave Farm.

BLU-26B

I have begun to cast a limited edition of 665 of these anti-personnel bomblets. All together they make one CBU-24. God bless America.

Twisty Passages

A little formal piece about Zork I for a show called Game Overture II put on by free103point9

Half Full of Blood

I have cast 50 Statue of Liberties in clear and red resin for the second annual *shoebox series* which is a benefit show in support of bridge magazine.

Jazz Shifter

Galen Joseph-Hunter of free103point9 asked me if I would like to make a sculpture for the Assembled: Free Jazz+Electronics music event and I was very happy to come up with the Jazz Shifter.

Unelect 04

I have been working on some screen prints with Sarah Lippek. This is the first few of the series. Posted as GIANT+ROADMASTER. Recently linked by the Wooster Collective.

SIGGRAPH 2004

I am showing 2 pieces at SIGGRAPH this year: Some Areas Under Video Surveillance and a new piece, DHS Safety Vest.

Tune(In))) Santa Fe

I performed in the radio play The Lost Journals of Nikola Tesla created by Sarah Lippek and neuroTransmitter for Tune(In))) Santa Fe, a transmitted performance event arranged by free103point9.

citylink Reference

Sarah found a great interview I did with Rob Ray for citylink newspaper (an arts and entertainment weekly in Chicago).

Where is my luggage?

A proposal for a permanent public sculpture at the SeaTac airport luggage claim with Craig Miller.

Fat Baby Greets Skinny Baby

Something stupid for the annual SOIL benefit auction. It's shiny and made from garbage.

End of Hostilities

A small piece for bridge magazine's benefit show *shoebox series*. The situation in Iraq is getting worse.

version>03

I'm giving a workshop on interactive sculpture at this years Version conference (held in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Cultural Center) and I am showing Some Areas Under Video Surveillance. Hope you can make it. Get the PowerPoint slide deck.

 

 

 

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Current Projects

Small Worlds


Lost Luggage

After moving to Antwerp Belgium I am embarking on a series of dioramas and photographs using the medium to tell stories.

The Curious Furniture of Ned Troide


AC/DC Shifter - Ned Troide - Weiner Roller

Ned Troide was singularly famous for scoring 72,999,975 points on the video game Defender, the highest score ever recorded. What is less known is that he also created a curious set of Heavy Metal end tables.

Prayer Antenna

A new Religious Artifact for the Transmission II: Airborne show at the New Museum of Contemporary Art presented by free103point9. The Airborne site

A New Type of Unfortunate Occurrence



An interactive environment that explores issues surrounding genetic research and its potentially disastrous outcomes by Paul Davies, Leslie Clague, Jake Woland and Nick Chapman. Constructed at the Tank NYC / Spaceworks and open until Dec 20, 2004 (open almost all the time 7 days week).

Small Humans

I am currently working on a series of interactive video sculptures titled Small Humans. The sculptures are about technological folly and feature small pluggable LCD video screens. I am also working on a series of digital C prints based on video stills. I have written a more detailed thematic description and scanned a set of slides.

NEW! Some of this work was shown in my first NYC solo show at the free103point9 gallery. Pics of the night are here.

Small Humans is generously supported by grants from the City of Chicago and the Canada Council for the Arts.

American Iron

I am about half way through a new series called American Iron. It's a series of engines from American muscle cars of the 60s and 70s. The picture above is a 1971 Dodge Charger 426 cid 'Street Hemi' - one of the great monsters that predated the gas crisis. The engines are modeled in 1/25 scale plastic resin and displayed in plexiglass cases with wood bases and brass name plates. I am also photographing the engines with a medium format camera and printing these very large - as close to 1-1 scale for the real engines as I can.

Dumbo Pod

A rooftop sculpture created with Jake Woland and Rob Roy Chalmers.

Hermit

An outdoor urban sculpture created by myself, Morrison Lyman, and Rob Ray. This was created on the side of a community center that is scheduled for demolition.

tornado

NEW! Some new high quality photos shot by pro photo-journalist Stephanie Sinclair.

tornado is a dynamic, interactive environment that mixes architectural sculpture, found objects, sound, video and light. tornado evokes the idea, energy and volume of the tornado storm in it's physical definition of space and form. This literal evocation is layered on top of a cultural tornado of mix and mixing interactive sound, music, video, and cultural artifact.

Very similar in spirit and practice to the 6 really great round beakers show - this environment was built in the deadtech gallery in Chicago in Feb of 2002 by Paul Davies, Craig Miller, Tyler Cufley, Tina Burton, Jesse Paul Miller, Leslie Clague and Rob Ray.

Furniture

I have made some furniture from time to time - I use steel and epoxy resin. These photos are from the Artcore Studios tattoo shop in Seattle. The steel is gas welded and finished with an angle grinder and the top is epoxy resin poured over plywood. The epoxy is very shiny and retains a liquid appearance when hard.

American Dream, Help the President Decide, The President Knows What He Is Doing

Three anti-war pieces I created out of feelings of anger, fear and disbelief with the current social and political climate in the United States. These pieces where shown at the October edition of Randy Wood's One Night Only, 11 Shows in 11 Months.

weapons americans need: shopping cart prototype

An armored shopping cart designed to protect americans from americans. Inspired by the fantastic sculpures of Kenji Yanobe. Recently released to freedom in the parking lot of an abandoned Red Apple grocery. My friend Sarah Lippek took a few snaps before the shopping cart was captured and taken away by children.

motivational device for an american citizen

A handy miniature video player worn in a wrist strap. A looping video keeps you reminded what it's all about. Created for the 'first war of the new millennium' show at SOIL gallery (May, 2002). Many thanks to my sister Pam Davies for her help on this project.

pill dispenser

A simple pill dispenser - put a quarter in and a pill comes out. This piece continues with my use of surplus plywood toolboxes from Boeing Surplus and white epoxy resin. Created for the Noodle Works Invitational.

pr0n star trading cards and mini-video CD's

Matt from Houston gallery was generous enough to ask the SOIL crew to have a show at Houston while we were between spaces. After some debate the SOIL membership agreed to create work that reflected the sensibilities of the Houston gallery. The working title was 'ultra-flat, super-bad'. I created something that was ultra-flat and super-bad.

first war of the new millennium: epilogue

A sculpture created for the 2002 Artist Trust charity auction. Consists of a white epoxy covered plywood toolbox from Boeing Surplus. A one inch round hole in the surface permits visitors to insert their finger and have it stamped with a unique serial number. Get your number.

inflate

I recently finished inflate, an interactive inflated environment. Created with Leslie Clague, Rachel Johnston, Sarah Morris, Sean Vale, Brent Watanabe, and Mark Johnson. Shown at SOIL for November 2001; we are thinking about taking it on the road.

Past Projects

  • high clearance vehicle A crazy steel vehicle powered by a 4 stroke gas engine I built for burning man 2001 - never worked all that well but it looked good.
  • cock monitor A collaboration with Jennifer West - I built the monitor which features a high gloss epoxy finish with a cock handle, red velvet and a 3 inch lcd. Jen did her regular crazy, perverse, synthetic/organic video.
  • kathryn 1, 2, 3, a set of 3 full body portraits created by taking many close up photos with a Polaroid camera.
  • Magnified Window/Under My Skin Episode 1, a collaboration with video artist Jennifer West that combines Jen's freaky- synthetic-surreal videos of something metal bursting through something organic (this time slinkys through green dyed agar-agar) with a pair of video monitors I created. Shown for (possibly the last) Fuzzy Engine opening Faux Natural.
  • 6 really great round beakers, I was lucky enough to be invited by Craig Miller to participate in the collaborative construction of a beautiful, immersive, interactive installation. A mix of architectural forms, natural materials, found and synthetic sounds and interactive elements.
  • Some Areas Under Video Surveillance, An interactive video installation that let members of the gallery audience wear wireless video cameras and paired wireless video monitors. The result was an environment in which one couldn't know when a camera might be recording one's image, where that image was being transmitted to or who was observing it; ubiquitous, arbitrary surveillance. Welcome to contemporary urban life.
  • I am not afraid of the dark, a night light for those a little unsure of what is under the bed. Produced to accompany the opening night of the Fuzzy Engine show Mania.
  • weapons americans need: shopping cart prototype an armored shopping cart designed to protect americans from americans. Inspired by the fantastic sculpures of Kenji Yanobe.
  • Empty Your Pockets a playful instrument created from four metal detecting wands from the airport. Created to be shown at Market St Studios in conjunction with the November Fuzzy Engine show. Shown a second time at the The Circus of the New Year show at the Commencement Art Gallery in Tacoma.
  • burning man in 4 space a 3 dimensional diagram of burning man in 4 dimensional space created for and displayed at burning man 2000. Also - my pictures from Burning Man.
  • Soylent Green 1 & 2 portraits of my Mom and Dad. Yum.
  • Error: Data Underflow is my latest show which included three pieces: Opaque, Bandwidth and Quantification of Humans. Error was presented at DeadTech in Chicago in November of 99.
  • Dark Noon is a collaboration between choreographer Deborah Birrane, installation artist Paul Davies and composer Dave Vormittag. This original performance had its first showing as part of artsEdge 99.
  • SenseBus is a networked interactive environment created collaboratively by the artists pf the Art and Robotics Group. This project was partially based on the original SenseBus proposal for the Space Probe project [download the sample code] (this is a reworking of the original Sense Bus idea) This implementation was featured in the ARG show in March of 99. SenseNet is a more ambitious proposal that will allow artworks in different cities to communicate across the Internet.
  • Interactive Film Cut-up is an idea for an interactive film installation that I am proposing for the 911 Media Center window. It allows the public to compose an interactive film from the outside of a window. IFC was installed in the 911 Media Center window during March 1999.
  • Quantification of Humans is a measuring device. This interactive installation was produced for the Space Probe work in progress show. (Space Probe is being sponsored by the Art and Robotics Group at InterAccess).
  • Persistent Invisible Fields an interactive environment based on Radiation Room that explores more general issues of electromagnetic fields. Persistent Invisible Fields was shown in the group show Aurora Universalis, in Feburary of 1998, sponsored by InterAccess.
  • Bandwidth an interactive electric-media installation exploring issues of information poverty. Bandwidth was first shown at the 1997 Third Rail.
  • Message is an interactive sculpture that features the reuse of digital audio message pads. Message was shown at the 1997 Parkdale Outdoor Art Fesitval, ArtBeat 97, and at Third Rail.
  • Flash Jacket an electric media wearable sculpture. This work was originally prototyped for a video that never got made, but was shown at the 1997 Third Rail.
  • Martyred Saints four musical compositions written by Dave Vormittag based on cubist paintings of mine. A CD of the four compositions, plus a multimedia track was released in November, 1996.
  • Radiation Room an interactive environment. This piece was exhibited at my first show which marked the inauguration of Apocalypse Gallery.