waterfalls
2023
fabric, glitter, gems, sequins, silk leaves, pom pom trim, easter grass, hot glue, cardboard, water, plastic bin, aquarium pump, PULACO mist maker, mini oscillating fan, Glade™ “waterfall” scented candle, installed dimensions variable
video installation: 4K Video, oscillating fan, Air Wick Waterfall Mist scented oil warmer, 04:13
performance and documentation: 2022 with Zarah Ackerwoman
I have been obsessed with waterfalls for a very long time, both as natural sites of astonishing power and beauty and as a symbolic or energetic form that has deep healing properties. I have also always loved tourist sites. The aesthetic juxtaposition of natural beauty and the tawdry gimmicks of consumerism holds a special place in my heart. Niagara Falls is probably the absolute pinnacle of these two forces meeting, and at an international border no less. The US side is known as the tastful one, which is kinda funny. My friend Zarah and I did a little performance there in the summer of 2022, wearing our bathing suits into the Cave of the Winds attraction and loudly singing a neopagan song popularized by the reclaiming movement while being pelted with the water as our fellow tourists looked on. Back in the studio, I started making miniature waterfalls and waterfall machines using aquarium pumps and LED lights. I was thinking about something that maybe you could order out of the Sharper Image catalogue. I was thinking about the desire to own, to conquer--of loving and desire and their corruption. I worked with Glade scented candles and plug-ins with “waterfall” scents as a way of playing with how brands captialize on the beauty of nature in very unnatural ways. The first installation I made was hard to document (see video below), but it was a calming space that people enjoyed spending time in. I used a video version of the waterfall (expanded back to a lifesize scale, sound on) in an exhibition at PAFA. In THESIS SHOW, the original waterfall fountain installation was hidden behind false walls, protected and unreachable, but visible through a peephole in the back of a cabinet that was used for art supply storage. To me it represented the infinite beating heart of the creative space, ever flowing and ever renewing.