Where Heroes Lay (2014)
Where Heroes Lay examines the concept of the bed and its relation to misfortune, marginalization and neglect. My intention in this work is to use this collection of beds as an expression of sympathy in regards to larger ethical issues faced by disadvantage people within society.
The series grew from a material exchange with a homeless person in downtown Washington, DC. Periodically, I removed soiled cardboard pieces from the homeless person’s sleeping quarters and replaced it with clean cardboard. In a sense, I became a maid. Using flour and water to bond the minced cardboard pieces together, I transformed the reclaimed material into precious artifacts that if needed can function as usable objects.
My intention is trickery, whereby I embody the trickster on various levels. My role is to inconspicuously induct the homeless person as The Hero, hence my gesture of serving him. Second, my intention is to present The Hero's soiled bedding material as a consumer good in the art-market. In the sphere, the objects will serve as weapons of critique and ridicule targeted towards mainstream society.