Lifespans
Part of Chromatic Cogitation: Rhythm Reboot
Curated by Rosie Gordon-Wallace
November 5- February 13, 2021-2
Redline Contemporary Art Center, Denver
We find ourselves in a triage unit, a sort of ill-equipped improvised purgatory where we get our check-up. Alienated, we get our snotty diagnosis by a nurse perhaps gone mad, but who, today, is our god. A lone oxygen tank represents the precious privilege of medicine. The antibody cocktail — and then the strange reflection of the virus in the vaccine, not afforded everyone — points to our class. Catharsis, treatment, cure, vainly we question our need for it; the freedom medicine offers we feel should be naturally ours. What poison pill, after all, will get us through the gates? What perfume will outlast our lifespan? Who, after all, will exit the triage the same way they came? Who, on the other hand, will be ushered into the hospital’s gauntlet, and why? Of which we know nothing, medicine has never seemed so political, so decisive, so other-worldly, so full-grown. Medicine, our fatherly liberator, with its violent love spreads its shadows on the walls, picturing our hysteria while pointing our distant way through a dream.
Delivery, 2021, air tank, golf caddy, tire chains, padlocks, steel plate, golf tee, linseed oil, enamel.
Rapid Test, 2021, thermometers, covid test tubes, diy crystals, compass, obsidian, erlenmeyer flask, acrylic sheet.
Stages of Reconciliation (pictured with Plato's Pharmacy), 2021, hand towels, wine rack.
Crutches (pictured with Plato's Pharmacy), 2021, window bars, crutches, rope, attachments.
Plato's Pharmacy, 2021, horsefly, resin, nitrous oxide cartridges, cartridge crackers, led strip, stingray spines, enlarger filter, rock flower perfume, epoxy, steel plate.
Station, 2021, wasp, resin, phlebotomy tubing, lens filter, plumbing parts, diy crystals, pasta maker parts, hypodermic needles, metal cup, cocktail shaker, magnet with leds, battery, modified table, epoxy, steel plate with attachments.
Heart, Body, and Mind, 2021, PET scans reproduced on transparencies, clear clip boards, magnets, hooks, attachments.
20 minutes, hourglass, hook, enamel.
Throne, portable toilet, ceramic tiles.
Darkness, 2021, teeth model, oxygen mask, oxygen tubing, metal post with attachment, tissue case, artificial eyelashes, epoxy, zip tie.
You and All Your Friends, 2021, veterinarian's needle.
Staying Power, 2021, grab bar, kid’s handcuffs.
Golden Opportunity, 2021, tie, door knob, tie clasp.
Sequencer, 2021, air filter, fishing line with hooks, velcro.
Prince, 2021, hospital gown, toilet paper hook.