The Wall was a project that I did my final semester in the BFA Program at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.
The Wall is about society, specifically the fall of society. The wall is 12 feet high and 25 feet long.
Materials – Wood, Sheetrock, brick, wire, paint, plaster, electronics, rebar, found objects.
The Wall is wired with a microphone which is amplified. The television set is on but shows only static. The beginning of the wall, where the wall is the strongest has representations from history of early man with images of cave paintings. As you move further down the wall the images show the passage of time. Stonehenge, a handmade axe, a Grecian urn, a column. As you continue to move along the wall the solid nature of the wall starts to break down. There is a hole in the wall which you can see through. The top of the wall has places where it has begun to crumble. Time is shown here with images of religion; a wooden cross, a painted cross. Time continues to pass with a lightbulb, actual metal gears, a telephone. Then a television with static and finally computer parts in the rubble at the end of the wall.
The Wall was then torn down as a performance piece. The wall could not be allowed to remain because of what the wall represented. It was about society crumbling. About there being nothing left in the end. I didn’t tell my advisor I was planning to tear the wall down. The BFA committee did not know what was going to happen when they sat down. I felt very strongly about tearing down the wall and I knew there was a possibility I would be talked out of it. So I did it. When members of the committee asked me why I hadn’t discussed it with my advisor I explained that I had my hand held for four years and it was time for me to fly on my own. Some day I will fix the videos. These are rough. The audio isn’t great because I held the microphone to close to my mouth but I still love the project and am very happy with how it came out.
