Full view

Untitled (Anton Art Center)

2012

Used water bottles and plastic grocery bags

16’ x 8’ x 8’

As part of the group exhibition Fiber Hybridity, curated by Stephanie Hazzard, Anton Art Center, Mount Clemens, MI

Full view

Detail 1: Bottles

The linear elements of the piece are created by cutting plastic grocery bags from my personal collection into strips and tying them together. Additionally, strips of yellow plastic bags are inserted in the suspended water bottles to give the appearance of a flower's pollen or plant stamen. The bottles on the ground are filled with water from the gallery and the brown, root-like bags are inserted into the water bottles. Metaphorically, the gallery is feeding the artwork.

— Andy T

Detail 2: Roots in Water

Detail 3: Root in Water

Consumable products exist in a temporary state of being. To complete their purpose they must be consumed: their structure, even down to the molecule, is reconfigured and repurposed by the body of the consumer. Our culture is packaging a majority of these temporary products in permanent materials. My art is in a temporary state of being…

— Original statement about the work

Detail 4: View from below

The two important works that preceded this one were Untitled (Funnel Cloud) and From Room to Room: the use of gallery water in the bottles on the ground from the former, and the usage of suspended bottles with colored plastic from the latter. The focus on highlighting the utilitarian functions of the gallery space in this piece was a guiding principle for later works like Untitled (Detroit Artists Market) and Untitled (Stamelos Gallery).