| Fish Magic | Early ProjectsA revolving shaft of star-like lamps project a field of diffuse light, appearing as both a primordial universe and an embryonic assemblage. This field is contained inside a hexagonal structure. Within this form, a cube covered with x-ray landscapes is illuminated with alternating colored lights. The fish float nearby. Rippling patterns of light paint the walls surrounding the sculpture. 48"12"x72"h |
 |
 |
||
| Demise or Enlightenment |  |
This sculpture employs light, transmitted through an artificial atmosphere and other formal sculptural elements. A lead arm, of molten lacework, contains a multitude of point-like light sources. This form stands between two other sculptural elements: a suspended video monitor and laser on the right; a hanging CRT and reflector screen on the left. From the video monitor is projec ted a pulsing computer generated night sky. A revolving laser beam scans a linear trace into this sky from below. The hanging CRT projects fields of black & white light that wrap over the tube's edges and animate light through the atmosphere contained in this work. 8'x4'x7'h |
| The Containment of Dreams | In this work an aluminum ladder is sealed into an air-tight plastic enclosure. The profile of a sleeping woman, fabricated of molten lead lacework, is seen suspended above a void of colored light. The enclosure below the image of the sleeper is animated by the random flare of multi-colored strobe lamps. 38"x18"x72"h |  |
| A Warning to My Friends |  |
In this installation the viewer is confronted
by a hazard barrier. Within this structure are two sculptural elements,
a tripod of steel fitted with a mechanical boom and a video monitor. The
clatter of the mechanical boom, as it rocks from side to side on its mounting,
sets a slow rhythm that beckons the viewer. The boom houses an array of
colored lamps that signal, red, blue, green and yellow and wash the surrounding
walls with color. From the center of the boom two mysterious holographic
eyes peer out towards the viewer. This is a railroad crossing come to life
or some ominous robotic owl. At its feet sits the video monitor, its dark
screen periodically disturbed by a bright rotating image. This image, which
materializes from the darkness, is a revolving computer altered skeleton
colored by image processors and dismembered by fleeting waveforms. 4'x4'x60"h
Work is shown as exhibited at The Brooklyn Art and Cultural Assoc. in 1987. |
| Shaman |
|
|
|
A Poet Dies on Twelfth Street |
Eviction Plan has its origin at 508-510 East 12th Street in New York's Lower East Side, or Loisada. In summer of 1979, I moved to an apartment at that location and over the ensuing four months became active in a tenant's dispute which began there over the abuses of a negligent landlord and that landlord's illegal collection of realty broker's fees. As President of the Tenants Association, I was the librarian for all the legal paperwork and documentation concerning this building of 52 units. The valise seen in this artwork was the receptacle for these documents during the ensuing 1½ years of court battles. These battles resulted in a Supreme Court victory, which granted permission for Tenant ownership of the building. What made this victory ironic was the fact that the rapid deterioration of Loisada itself in 1980 made tenant management untenable. That year, due to the arriving Democrats for the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York, drug traffic was suppressed by the N.Y.P.D. at some of the major crossroads of lower Manhattan. This included Washington Square Park, Union Square and the West Village, but neglected the politically unfavored Lower East Side. As a result street conditions became very dangerous on East 12th Street. These conditions forced many of those who supported tenant action in the neighborhood to leave. I myself was robbed at gun point and bound in my apartment. At the time of our hard-won victory, these poor conditions had existed for some months and the tenant base needed to undertake building ownership had eroded significantly. The undertaking had to be abandoned. I left the Lower East Side to discover later, that several tenants at 508-510 died in violent assaults on that block during the period that followed my departure. A Poet Dies on 12th Street, an artwork of this period, is a memorial to one of the slain. Later, in the mid 1980's, after a Police cleanup known as Operation Pressure Point, the gentrification of the Lower East Side would be undertaken and the East Village real estate boom began. The valise and its contents remained with me over the years. In 1989, I was surprised to discover that the artist Hans Haacke had also been involved in documenting the history of 508-510 and had produced one of his classic exposes on the building. I telephoned him, and he encouraged me in my pursuit to work with the documents I had in my possession. The valise remained on my worktable at my studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for some months that year. Then in July, my studio, as well as two other living spaces in my building, were deliberately set on fire. A long running dispute with my landlord and ambiguous warnings from his associates led us, as well as insurance investigators, to believe that the arson was owner initiated. This final assault in New York's real estate wars spurred my completion of this project. I searched the debris and broken glass for Eviction Plan and rescuing the artwork, accumulated the broken glass for inclusion in the sculpture. The fire gave me the idea for the final element for this work. I used a brilliant red neon spiral to divide the contents of the valise and set it visually ablaze. |
  |