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Artist Statement
"Is it not an ethical imperative and challenge to create situations that mock, question, interrupt, undermine and subvert the continuum of progress that keeps (catastrophic) things going?" Victor Zamunio-Taylor
With my art I explore the web of structure inherent to our lives. Not the structure that we individually control such as nightly activities or our own circle of friends, rather, the underlying structure that collectively makes up the environments we live in. Such structures often go unnoticed; when they are considered at all they are typically thought to exist in order to provide our society the things it needs to flourish. It is this structure, or more accurately, infrastructure, that is almost always taken for granted , and that is at the same time, deeply embedded in defining our individual evolution.
Subsidized Structures have evolved to shape our society.. Starting from childhood we become indoctrinated into our educational systems, subsidized to serve all citizens for at least sixteen years. These systems, in particular, personify the entire infrastructure underlying our lives. Physically upgraded periodically with the latest technological innovations while existing on ‘time honored’ practices, our (educational) systems in reality are very selective in the way they serve different classes of people within society. There are theoretically precise definitions of success used within the systems and from these rewards and punishments are decided and meted out. The system seems to be built on concise standards and metrics. Yet increasingly the definitions of "success" comes from only one class of people. This situation creates alienation and disengagement for entire classes of people.
The drawings examine the structures that provide the energy needed to sustain our society. The base definition of energy - the ability to do work – is epitomized by working people. These people work a minimum of 40 hours per week, often for forty years, doing their part to maintain or upgrade our infrastructure. Not surprisingly an unbalanced portion of our infrastructure is devoted to collecting or generating, storing and transporting forms of energy. Ultimately these structures are subsidized yet (again) they do not serve equally. Taken together the installation and drawings are a collective comment on energy and how it moves through us and forms our histories – every day, all through time, whether we are conscience of it or not.
Robert Costanza
Angels Gate Cultural Center
Studio B4/B5
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