kneel 2013
wood table, metal pipe, mirror, metal rings, metal scraps, towel rod, printing rollers, roadside emergency reflector kit
22 x 36 x 27 in
installed at Blink Gallery, Ottawa
Photos Justin Wonnacott
A little table lies prostrate on the floor, its sawn-off legs lay out in front of it. If you look closely you can see one leg is shorter than the others, its missing piece sits on the table like an offering, accompanied by a series of stacked metal rigs pressed and damaged into uselessness. Other leg-like objects, more difficult to identify, lie with the cut off legs. A rusted metal bar creates a border separating the legs from the table. Behind the table, a broken mirror rests precariously. Together these objects create an alter-like formation that also resembles a vanity. There is nothing to be vain about in this arrangement, yet the mirror implies some kind of self-reflection, and the altar some kind of hope, if not exactly prayer. These objects feel used, abused and loved. They are strewn yet precise. And even though there is a sense that they belong to another time, they also embody a presence and groundedness that places them in the now. Personal and political unrest surrounds the work. Time, location and identity are unspecified. The whole arrangement of objects desires one to kneel if front of it.