Bellows
Bellows explores notions of surveillance and our evolving relationship with nature and land. The site-specific sculpture references the form and function of the enclosed space between the lens and film plane from an early model camera. Standing 6’-6” tall and made of ash wood, large sheets of paper and thousands of individual pages from over 40 books focused, at least in part, on land and nature, the work is composed of 46 layers of paper mounted to wood frames. Large holes carved out of each sheet combine to define a portal-like space the viewer can peer into and through. Bellows embodies the notion of the mind working as a reducer – the work functions much like a cognitive funnel that frames and temporarily isolates one’s vision and focus. With much of the stimulus we absorb filtered and mediated through cameras and other devices, we are subject to a virtual flood of information that has been framed and often tailored to our sensibilities, beliefs and desires. Each framed image or idea is an opportunity to focus and comprehend, but also inevitably a means to exclude - an opportunity to miss what is beyond the frame. What are we not seeing, hearing, or experiencing?
