July 29 – August 10, 2002
Emelie Chhangur – the permanent growth project
Andrew Shaver – OUTGROWTH
WHY COLLECT AT ALL?
There are things we refuse to part with.
Other things we actively seek out and gather for our own pleasure and satisfaction at having created a small pocket of order in an otherwise chaotic world. Where do these things come from, and why do we feel such a drive to collect them, classify them, and preserve them? For whom?
Like taxidermy, the science of preservation through destruction, we often destroy something vital and alive in order to carry its physical manifestation beyond its natural lifespan.
Plastic, the material of the modern age, is the common currency of preservation, housing food, clothing, hardware, or just about anything else we purchase for consumption. What happens once the seal has been broken and objects are cut loose from their plastic womb, pressed into function and fashion, if only for a short time, before being replaced by the vacuum-sealed “new and improved”? This show challenges our attitudes towards objects, bringing the lost objects of the world back into the plastic fold, and holding up the precious and the pointless with equal enthusiasm. The permanent growth project implicates everyone and anyone in its creation, blurring the lines between participant and viewer, curator and artist, lost and found.
