November 14, 2003
incomplete middle draft
this is my artist statement so far. i havent gotten to my goals yet. and i have to touch this up a bit still. i really am trying to avoid the cheese
"You spend your whole life gathering knowledge. There exists so much more potential for that knowledge when you share it with others. This drives me to make my work. Art provides a unique arena in which to present the information I have gained through my personal experiences. Spreading this through other people allows me the personal validity to continue with my own studies.
The experience of teaching relates to my work in that it deals with interaction and connection as a form of communication. Interactivity has a unique ability to get certain ideas across. In my work, I concern myself with an individual experience. Drawing from my life, I take experiences and put them into new, more controllable contexts. This allows me to recreate instances that might have been only by chance before. When presenting a piece, I stay away from the actual event. I stand back and merely act as an initial facilitator who just briefly prepares participants. Through written instructions and interactions implied by form, the participant is self-guided through the event. I trust in the scenarios that I set up and I ask for trust from my participants. They will be safe and get an authentic, uninterrupted experience and I get to relive my piece through a new set of eyes after the course has been run. The event and how it is perceived differs for each person. Observing their reactions is a means of comparison between my life and theirs. This provides me with an ever-broadening perspective on my own perceptions. Conclusions drawn from these differences give me the fuel for future pieces."
