Did you find a four-leaf clover - did you lose it?
Do you believe in true love?
How many naps do you take per week?
Have you ever gone on strike?
Do you have a butterfly tattoo?
Are you trans?
How many potholes are there on your street?
Spontaneous knotting of agitated string is a practical metaphor for predictable and unlikely probable entanglements. The quilt squares display graphs made from data collected by asking strange and mundane questions. Each axis of the graph poses questions that frame seemingly unrelated but possibly entangled events. The questions are a portrait of the questioner and tell as much about the collector as those the data is collected from. The quilt creates an interesting story of work, sleep, disability, belief, waiting, and action. It doesn’t seek to answer any hypothesis but instead uses data to draw wild and possibly inaccurate conclusions.
The quilt is also made of images of tangled string, and drawings, math, and secret codes found on the ground printed on cotton. The stuff border is made from spare pieces of fabric and photographs as well as fabric made from layering tulle on top of randomly selected scraps. The whole sculpture is made using the tool of chance and probability. What is the likelihood of string becoming tangled? What is the likelihood that those who believe in true love will like their bosses? Or do those who have been fired have a cat? Do those who have more potholes on their street nap more? Are trans people more likely to have butterfly tattoos?
Coming from the back of the quilt is a tangled mass of string curling and spiraling. These suspended strings lead to a can on a string. The sculpture largely uses everyday low technology. The data is collected by asking individuals questions, and the numbers are stored in fabric which is one of the oldest methods of calculation, the rule of chance has been applied by hand, and the end of the sculpture represents a frustrating technology we interact with daily for hours at a time - hold music. When the viewer puts their ear to the can they will hear a kind of endless music. Handmade static is made, and the phrase “Your call is very important to us” becomes a beautiful and eerie codependent love song. The hold voice sings about the essence of waiting, patience, belief, and faith. Spontaneous knotting of agitated string creates a poetic portrait of day-to-day existence. All of us waiting together, asking questions, losing our keys, quitting our jobs, napping, and waiting for our luck to change.
Spontaneous knotting of agitated string, 2023, inkjet prints on cotton, found materials, polyfill, tulle, string, gauche, GAC 400, large tomato can, speaker
You are very important to us , 2023, 2 1/2 hours of improvised music by Saggy (Lane Timothy Speidel, Jim Strong, Shea Retherford, and Schuyler Thum)
(details pictured below)
