This installation and drawings are part of my continued fascination with objects that help us navigate through every day life. Specifically based on the nun buoy that marks a particular site under the water that is otherwise unseen,
Heave responds to Pier 56 as a specific site by incorporating its history as a fishing pier. Despite their main function as both navigational tool and to warn boats of dangers below the water, buoys cannot be relied on completely. They can become damaged during storms, move locations, and can otherwise drift. There is an inherent tension between known danger beneath and the uncertainty of its location, and both ship and buoy are vulnerable.
The fact that Heave is the color of the ocean on certain days in the Northwest, subverts its function further, as it could easily disappear from view under the right lights and conditions. This uncertainty is present in all of my work, where function and use are called into question.
The accompanying drawings in this exhibition explore the various situations that buoys encounter, the locations in which they are placed, and the small communities they create as a whole. In this way, Heave echoes the work of Mithun Architects. A building’s relationship to its site and community is of extreme importance. It's the moment when we take the leap from our own private experience to interact with the larger world.
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