This recent work, “Crash”, attempts to harness gestural conventions of the ceramic figurine, and to disrupt our expectations of them. The measured waltz-like pace conjured by the traditional figurine meets an extremity of speed and chaos. Whether it conjures the velocity of the open road, or the dread-filled slo-mo of a crash on YouTube, the subject seems intriguingly at odds with the lyricism and fragility of the ceramic material. Dimensions: 9 inches x 15 x 26.
IDEAS10: Art and the Digital Narrative was a juried exhibition organized in conjunction with the eighth annual International Digital Media and Arts Association (IDMAa) conference, The Digital Narrative: Deconstruction/Reconstruction, hosted in November at Emily Carr University in Vancouver B.C.
“Icarus Junior is the son of the legendary Icarus, who flew too close to the Sun. Icarus Junior likes to think he has learned from his father’s tragic lack of judgment, but ultimately he is fated to make the same mistakes.
“Icarus Jr. is outfitted with the newest of technologies, far exceeding the safety standards of his father’s generation. He is warm and secure, even as he soars to great heights, at blistering speeds.
“But the windswept landscape looks a little bleaker every day. The view offers a continuous sequence of plagues, floods and fires. Insulated and numbed, Icarus Junior witnesses the slow collapse from above. He doesn’t crash as his father did, but he is a victim of his ambitions nonetheless.”
Details of Icarus Junior’s packaging…
Icarus Junior Packaging Detail 1
Icarus Junior Packaging Detail 2
Icarus Junior Packaging Detail 3
Icarus Junior Packaging Back Panel
Icarus Junior (Ice) Installed
From the exhibition “Earth Matters,” April 2010, the Galleries at Moore College of Art + Design in Philadelphia.
Icarus Junior is the son of the legendary Icarus, who flew too close to the Sun. Icarus Junior likes to think he has learned from his father’s tragic lack of judgment, but ultimately he is fated to make the same mistakes.
Icarus Jr. is outfitted with the newest of technologies, far exceeding the safety standards of his forefather’s generation. He is warm and secure, even as he soars to great heights, at breakneck speed.
Icarus Jr. is not motivated by aspirations to discover new territories. He fetishizes the technologies themselves, and is fixated on the alluring design and high-end performance of his gear. His impulses are driven purely by material acquisition and the pursuit of a bigger and better adrenaline rush.
But the windswept landscape grows bleaker every day, with ever-present plagues, floods and fires. Insulated and numbed, Icarus Junior witnesses the slow collapse from above. He doesn’t suffer the mechanical failures that doomed his father, but he is a victim of his ambitions nonetheless.
