Human Dreams, The Downtown Artery, 2017
Human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish.
-Jonathan Safran Foer, Tree of Codes
As soon as people arrived at this installation (sweating near, breathing on, or even licking it), it started to sag and melt. It began absurdly light, fluffy, delightful; over-the-top optimistic to mirror the hubris of human effort against the forces of entropy and chaos. Under the cotton candy is a modular origami star, which allowed for the underlying structure to slowly become visible, in the way that as things wilt and fall away to time, we can leave in intricate and lasting order in our wake.
Microscope photography of similar ephemeral and crystalline items accompanies this installation as a way to see deeply into their makeup, in a way that would be impossible to see normally, due to their fragility and minuscule nature.
I also served cotton candy to visitors (85 cones!) of all sorts of flavors: earl grey, maple syrup, lemon drop, green chili, and more. I wanted visitors to feel like they could enjoy and be a part of the pile of sugar melting in front of them.
Human Dreams, 2016, Cotton candy, ribbon, flashlights, paper, balloons, sugar paper, prom dresses
Honey, 2015, digital photography, microscope, honey
Sugar, 2015, digital photography, microscope, cane sugar
Crystal, 2015, digital photography, microscope, fungal hyphae, isopropyl alcohol
Salt, 2015, digital photography, microscope, Selenium salt
Hyphae, 2015, digital photography, microscope, fungal hyphae, water