Why Do We Hate Each Other?
Installation
(2022)
The installation I have presented, prior to entering, on the door was a title card with what appears to be a seemingly confusing list of letters, but was important in the totality of the installation. It was an actual cipher with the answer key to decipher a coded message which inside appeared in the form of a neon sign on the wall. In art, one of the dilemmas facing the artist is the idea of how we get viewers to stick with an artwork for a longer period of time instead of a brief moment of temporality lasting around fifteen to thirty seconds. In turn, as human beings how do we give each other the opportunity to get to know where other individuals are coming from as human beings instead of dismissing them right away based off first impressions such as appearance, political ideology, socioeconomic status, etc. The goal is to see if viewers, through the installation, if they were able to spend more time with an artwork, would they have a greater appreciation of what is presented to them just as human beings if we spend more time one another, do we have a greater respect from where the other is coming from.
The End of Empire
(2023)
Thesis Show-Installation
Thesis show that tries to draw parallels of the downfall of the Roman Empire to the downfall of the American Empire. When entering the installation, you are met with several projections found throughout the room in large scale. When you look up at the ceiling there are two projections split across the ceiling and the opening where situated in the middle is a sphere. One projection is of space/the galaxy and other is a live stream of security footage of Fremont St. in Downtown Las Vegas. It was meant to represent how we look up to the sky for higher powers and the idea of the spectacle. The idea we can be distracted by these things through media and social media when there are more pressing needs to be addressed. There are also two projections on the wall. One shows a map of the United States with different states being lit at different times in several colors. The other shows simulated explosions. On the ground in mulch is an outline of the United States that corresponds to the map on the projection. The lit states are not meant to represent where states lean politically, but states that have suffered ecological disasters seen in places like East Palestine in Ohio. The installation is meant to be immersive and interactive. If one choose to, they could sift through the mulch and where the states are located, they could find pieces of paper describing the disasters as well as where and when they occurred. It was meant to show how we bury these things from the public psyche without truly solving these issues because it leaves a stain on the nation. The mulch was also outlined throughout the installation and you could also smell the mulch. The smell of the Earth was meant to also show how as humans we have destroyed the planet and just ignore it like nothing happened. There is a lighting sequence timed throughout your time within with several part being lit at different times. On the wall were printed in code, a pigpen cypher, different messages to be discovered. The only to see them was using a UV Flashlight which was located within the installation. When you entered the installation, if you took the artist statement before entering, the answer key was located on it. Also, upon entering, the light would reveal on the statement another coded message. One of the coded messages invited viewers to write their own messages on the ground to be discovered by others who entered the installation. The installation was meant to be a shared experience by people who don’t necessarily know each other and through art bring them together even for a brief moment. To show how are there more things that can bring us together than separate us which the American empire through propaganda and various other tools have instilled upon the population. The installation was meant to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but also met with several different layers that challenged eye discipline. It was up to the viewer to spend as much as time as they wanted. They could come for a brief moment and spend a good amount of time in it to discover as much as they wanted.
oWn taTtereD truThs
(2022)
Installation
An installation tackling the issues facing water crises in the United States especially in the communities of Flint, MI and Jackson, MS. Name of work is an anagram of what the real title of the work is supposed to be. The viewer is made to climb a ladder to where projections of water are on the wall, geographical coordinates are placed on the back of empty shelving and sparse items are left on the shelves. Meant to represent the idea that these communities are often times left to survive on their own with the governments seemingly abandoning them. There are also photos on the ground of these communities. It was meant to show how society looks down on these communities as the viewer is made to look down to view them. In standard settings, often times we view these things on the wall as if on equal height or in some kind of reverence. At the bottom floor is a recording of residents of Flint describing their situation. Meant to show how we often empathize from the comfort of our own home instead of the reality of the situation when we actually are there in person simulated when you climb the ladder up to the installation.
The Third Estate
(2022)
Installation
Installation of several projections of different information ranging from graphs showing the increase in the military budget as well as other various data to redacted documents of the government to polluted water showing that the military is the number one polluter in the world. The installation was meant to draw comparisons on how the climate crisis and increases in military budgets parallel each other. There is a sculpture of a plant in bondage in chains hanging from the ceiling. There are bullet shell casings found within the plant as well as on the ground projection of the polluted water. There is also a burned map with dirt piled on top. All these elements are meant to point towards the overall theme of humans causing the destruction of the planet mainly through war causing climate refugees from destroyed ecologies.
Freedom Is Slavery
(2022)
Installation
Installation set around the theme that the United States is the most propagandized country in the world. When you walk into the installation, you are in an enclosed room where a soundtrack resonates and lights fill the space flickering back and forth from blue to red. There is garbage scattered all over the ground. It was meant to represent all the garbage that individuals have to navigate through everyday from targeted ads to social media in general. On the wall are pages hung from the novel, "1984." There are certain lines and passages circled on the wall that point to the surveillance state we are currently in. The blue and red lights are meant to represent the police as well as two party duopoly that funds wars and fails to give support to the working class. The end of the soundtrack ends with a phrase from Brian Williams who describes the "beauty of our weapons," taken from the second Iraq war.
What The Health?
(2021)
Installation
Installation set up with the theme of health care in this country in mind. The room was set up to mimic a hospital waiting room, with chairs set up in the same manner and in the middle of the installation was a sign-in sheet surrounded by three channels of video on all sides. There is soundtrack as the video channels play. It was meant to show how distracted in this country we become with pretty images and catchy music and yet the problems facing this country are right in front of us such as the lack of universal health care. We know what the issues are in this country that plague us and yet we have become complacent and comfortable with the images and propaganda that flood us visually everyday. The more we sit complacent, the more time passes before it could become too late for anything to be done.
Tomorrow Isn't Promised
(2023)
Installation
Installation revolving around the concept of time and how human beings lose track of it because of the daily grind of life and work. The lighting sequence in the installation was done in morse code which was the message and title of the install, "Tomorrow Isn't Promised." Within the room were calendars, all marked in a.ten year span showing all the time dedicated to work and how little time is left to one's own enjoyment and other endeavors. Scattered throughout the room was mulch and buried within were journal pages of a life that one could choose to read if they wanted to interact more with the installation. It was meant to signify how as humans we tend to bury our past memories and are strictly compliant to the daily grind of work. A projection from the ceiling hit the ground with various dates flashing to signify how time passes and fail to notice it.
Working Class Manifesto Part 1
(2021)
Installation
Two room installation. The first room contained a table littered with pamphlets titled, “Working Class Manifesto spread across it as well as a lit candle. In the room, audio could be heard reciting the words from the pamphlet. The audio was in my own voice and the manifesto itself was written by me. The candle was meant to represent the finite time we have as a class to unite before the inequalities we face become to great to overcome. When the candle stops being lit, we fade into darkness.
The second room invites the viewer to walk into the room in darkness where the only senses available to you in the installation is your hearing. In the four corners of the room are speakers playing different voices of individuals from the working class answering questions in their own words pertaining to class struggle. The individuals are all from Las Vegas where I am from and speaks to the nature that even with the glitz of a city like Las Vegas, it is still very much rooted within the working class. The installation was meant to have the viewer go towards the voices to hear them more audibly. In life, I feel we like to keep a distance between us as humans and fail to get to know each other. In turn, we make assumptions for the good or bad. By getting closer and hearing what we have to say as in the voices, we get a better understanding of each other as humans and I feel respect is exchanged because there is more that brings us together than separates us.
Working Class Manifesto Part 2
(2021)
Installation
Two room installation. The first room contained a table littered with pamphlets titled, “Working Class Manifesto spread across it as well as a lit candle. In the room, audio could be heard reciting the words from the pamphlet. The audio was in my own voice and the manifesto itself was written by me. The candle was meant to represent the finite time we have as a class to unite before the inequalities we face become to great to overcome. When the candle stops being lit, we fade into darkness.
The second room invites the viewer to walk into the room in darkness where the only senses available to you in the installation is your hearing. In the four corners of the room are speakers playing different voices of individuals from the working class answering questions in their own words pertaining to class struggle. The individuals are all from Las Vegas where I am from and speaks to the nature that even with the glitz of a city like Las Vegas, it is still very much rooted within the working class. The installation was meant to have the viewer go towards the voices to hear them more audibly. In life, I feel we like to keep a distance between us as humans and fail to get to know each other. In turn, we make assumptions for the good or bad. By getting closer and hearing what we have to say as in the voices, we get a better understanding of each other as humans and I feel respect is exchanged because there is more that brings us together than separates us.