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Assists: As of Spring 2019

Thus far there exist two kinds of Assists – all metal versions produced outside of the studio by professional metal workers, and the bricolage variety produced in the studio by the artist.

Many of the all metal Assistsis made up of four parts; two base parts and two top parts.  The bases and tops are theoretically interchangeable amongst the others.

In all cases the Assists can’t stand up on their own. In order to stand upright the assist needs to be attached to something else, to other freestanding objects chosen by their owners, curators, or the artist.This might be furniture, appliances, or other sculpture. As paintings that leave the artist’s studio must be supplied a wall in their new venues, the Assists must be supplied a new object that enables them to stand.

In some cases, one upper phalange of the all metal assist will present a horizontal surface that can act as a pedestal for another work (a work made by the artist, a work by another artist, or an object.)

The Assist has a symbiotic relationship with everything around it.

The following words are all evoked by the word symbiotic: Give-and-take, teamwork, collaboration, partnership, aid, assistance, alliance, coalition, communion, teamwork, and reciprocity.

The word Symbiosis originates in 1877 as a biological term: “mutually beneficial association of two different organisms,” coming from Modern Latin. Symbiosis “a living together,” from the Greek word symbioun “live together,” from symbios “(one) living together (with another), partner,” from syn- “together” + bios “life”. The word was given a wider (non-biological) sense by 1921. An earlier sense of “communal or social life” is found in 1620s.

The Assists further explore questions of boundary, dependence, and response to the landscape of human made things that have been raised by my work for many years.

The evocative space embodied in paintings communicates something of the interiority of human experience chipping away at the essential aloneness of human experience. Paintings hang on walls; picture making occurs in relation to surface; architecture provides walls and surface; and architecture is inserted into landscape. All materials originate in nature and at some juncture during the course of human processing they move out of the ‘natural’ realm into the realm of human made objects.  Some of these objects have celebrated authors and people who remain anonymous make most.

The Assists occupy the space between all of these junctures much like hinges occupy the space between a door and its jamb.