The Certainty of Opposites

The Certainty of Opposites

25″ x 25″ x 12″
Recycled/found object assemblage (see an explanation of the process at bottom of this page)

 

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Original materials used in “The Certainty of Opposites”

“The Certainty of Opposites” was created for the “Object Afterlife Challenge”, which is an annual event sponsored by MECCA in Eugene, Oregon. The curator chooses several trash/recycled items and gives them to the artists, who then have 6 weeks to come up with something (artists are allowed to add materials, as long as the completed piece is made from at least 50% recycled materials).

CREATION PROCESS: I was given the materials above (empty plastic sphere that once held beer, broken umbrella, 9 bed springs). It occurred to me that each item related to opposing forces in ways that resonated with my philosophy (“Between seeming contradictions lie greater truths”): both the umbrella and the sphere are tools to keep wet and dry items separate, while the bed springs are used to mitigate the force of gravity on a body at rest. I decided to use the sphere as the primary design element, and to contrast it with a square (the frame), but also to open it up, in order to use both the exterior and interior spaces. I quickly moved on to the concept of making a little “planet” with lush landscape on the outside, which would be contrasted against the inevitable end point of every living thing on a planet – death. Inside the sphere, I used a skull to represent death, and decorated it with parts from the umbrella and bedsprings, and other recycled items. I wanted the outside of the sphere to look alive and a bit chaotic, and the inside to look very quiet, serene and ordered. Lastly, I chose a title which reinforces these concepts: “The Certainty of Opposites”