Re-Inventing the Wheel
A project for the exhibition Dis/Functional, May 10 - October 19, 1997, at the Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
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Artist Statement
"Re-inventing the Wheel" is an installation that provides a wide-angle
view of the evolution of technology. The project seeks to understand
the development of technology through a comparison of different
contemporary techniques of reproduction and representation. 3D
laser digitizing, computer modeling, and rapid prototyping have
been used to translate actual prehistoric and historic artifacts
into three parallel timelines. Each "history" is realized using
a different mode of presentation: 24 scaled physical prototypes
are presented on digitally altered hands; a slowly panning image
of the "source" artifacts is seen via closed-circuit video; and
a range of information on the objects in the form of text and
images can be found on the internet (a link to which can be found
in the Museum lobby). Bridging between the conventional gallery
exhibit and the kind of experience found "on-line," the work explores
different presentational modes, different spaces for the packaging
of information, and the "tools" we use to represent and reproduce
our past.
Dan Collins
May 1997
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Statement from curator of the exhibition, John Spiak:
Dis/Functional, an exhibition of installation art, casts the artist,
rather than the scientist, in the role of expert authority and
aesthetic interpreter. Just as anthropologists, archaeologists,
sociologists and historians grapple with persistent issues of
religion, social and sexual relationships, education, politics
and technology, the artists in this exhibition attempt to create
a dialogue with the viewer about these subjects. Unlike scientists,
however, their work leaves these issues open to individual interpretation,
rather than striving to establish any "absolute truth". Though
scientific pronouncements may once have been accepted as black
and white, and essentially unassailable, current post-modern skepticism
now informs our approach to these areas. This exhibition underscores
the prevailing skepticism of our time.
What ultimately unites the artists of Dis/Functional is the medium
of installation. The seven artists selected alter space to focus
their audience visually upon questions of function and purpose.
They incite the viewer to creative thought, sparking debate on
problematic matters, rather than promoting complacent acceptance
of pat answers and generally accepted truisms.
Example of Webpage that was displayed in Museum Lobby.