Intro | Background 2 | Breathe 2 | Manchester | Propositions 2 3 4 | References | Results 2 | Inquiries | Notes

Results — continued

While Sorted, Pounds of Happiness, and Unlimited Promise look and feel much different from some of my past works, there are a few interesting points of continuity.

Gold Present, 2007, balsa wood and paper, 22 x 18 x 18 inches / 56 x 46 x 46 cm. more info
Dark Light (Desk Model), 2007, graphite, vellum, paper, acetate, 16 x 20 inches / 41 x 51 cm. more info

My interest in the overriding influence of consumer culture can be seen in the Presents and Inventions series. The Presents are clearly influenced by retail display and the language of desire. The Inventions are fictional product design-like drawings, but in contrast with the reconfirgured pound shop items in Pounds of Happiness, the Inventions are embedded with a sense how consumer products fail to improve the quality of life. For example, the Dark Light (Desk Model) is a proposal for a light that shines dark, to compensate for a dim laptop monitor in a bright room. The objects in Pounds of Happiness evince their planned obsolescence as well, however, taken without pretensions, they are completely sincere in their ambition to provide pleasure, however brief or modest.

Untitled (Lens Flare, Large Mirror), 2007, mirror, frame, lights, 26 x 32 x 2 inches / 66 x 76 x 5 cm. more info
Detail of Pounds of Happiness (installation): Recursion, laser print, found frame, 7 x 9 x 0.5 inches / 18 x 23 x 1.5 cm. Produced in the Breathe Residency at Chinese Arts Centre. more info

Pounds of Happiness shares an interest in happiness with Lens Flare (Large Mirror), a partially-sandblasted found mirror. In its most basic function, Lens Flare is an instrument for making people smile. It also suggests the moment when everyday banality is transcended. In the Recursion frame in Pounds of Happiness also uses a gold frame to a similarly curious effect. However, the image in the frame refers knowingly back to the object, heightening awareness of both the object and its representation.

Language is an important part of my practice; it has been an organizing principle in recent projects, but has been a material that I work with in the past. Unlimited Promise can be seen as following a body of papercut texts. Of course, the previous work was concerned with anxiety, accumulation and illegibility, where as Unlimited Promise relies on legibility, semantic ambiguity and an economic use of materials. Interestingly, I had hung text in a similar fashion before in my studio two years ago, in an explicit and pessimistic gesture; returning to the form with more meaning-filled intentions has been rewarding.

notes

15. Dave Sherry lecture, Tuesday Talks series, Whitworth Gallery. 3 March 2009.

16. Ibid.

17. "Ceal Floyer: Genuine Reductionist,” Art Worlds Magazine, Feb./Mar. 2009)