Return homeA couple years ago, in response to our ongoing petroleum wars and a fascination with the automobile, I created a machine I dubbed The Extruder. It was charged with the task of making 429,674 Play-Doh automobiles, which is the estimated number of automobiles the FORD Motor Company made in 1947, the year Henry Ford died. This process continues to this day, though I have only achieved a very small percentage of that goal, somewhere in the range of 9000 to 10000 individual Play-Doh automobiles. As the automobiles are made, I encase them in clear epoxy, which seals the ephemeral Play-Doh automobile into the distant future.
As I encased these miniature automobiles in parking-lot configurations, I realized that I was not just sealing the automobiles in epoxy; I was mummifying and entombing them. Like the Pharaohs of antiquity, I was sending my automobiles off in a time machine, to see realities and futures I can only dream of. Instead of elaborate Pyramids serving as the vessel, I was using wall-hung artworks.
In response to this I have designed my new series Population. Since all the Play-Doh automobiles will need drivers in the future, I thought it only appropriate to start extruding the Play-Doh people that would operate the automobiles. However, these drivers will no doubt get hungry and need shelter, so I will also extrude all the Play-Doh cows they might need to eat and the Play-Doh houses they might require.
In varying configurations, the worldly things outlined above will also be encased in epoxy, accompanying the automobiles into oblivion.
Population will be on view during ISEA2012 Albuquerque: Machine Wilderness at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History from September 18, 2012 till January 6, 2013
2012