SleepCycle, 8' x 6' x 4', 2014

Seven slip-cast porcelain pillows sleep in a bed of black sand. Each wears texture of human skin which slowly ages. Movement showing textural experiences occasionally plays over a pillow. When viewers become motionless in front of the piece, the pillows merge into a single image, a collective dream playing over them.

While programming this piece, I got excited about creating independent objects and establishing relationships between them. Each pillow ages, dreams, dies and rejuvenates slowly and separately, at each at its own pace, so the patterns are always changing and never repeat. But if the gallery space is devoid of movement for a few seconds, the pillows become a group, share a collective dream. So, while the piece does respond to visitor behavior, it doesn’t require their action but instead waits for their stillness.

Credits
  • Programming: Dave Ryan
  • Ceramic: Mika Negishi Laidlaw
  • Sensor Design: Steve Ryan
Exhibitions
410 Gallery, Mankato, MN, January 2014
Currents New Media Festival, Santa Fe, NM, June 2014
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, March - June 2016