Standing Reserve

 

Pine, Sisal Rope, Paraffin Wax, Salt, Audio

 

Standing Reserve concerns a vital and omnipresent feature of the landscape, seen and unseen, a hum we get used to.

 

The power grid is the foundation which enables contemporary society. This seemingly endless source of energy exists on the periphery of our consciousness, only flickering into sight when it cuts out. Martin Heidegger describes such sources of energy as 'standing-reserve' ('Bestand'). This term is used when the technological/instrumental characteristics of an object become its defining characteristics. He states that in such cases "the object disappears into the objectlessness of standing-reserve".

 

I seek to fracture the object which I see as the figurehead of the power grid, a 21st century crucifix which denotes the presence of power. Disrupting its form allows us to see it anew and to reflect upon its function and significance. I invite a reappraisal of our relationship to it, to illuminate both what it does for us and how it influences us.

 

Ubiquitous access to seemingly limitless information and the power to communicate worldwide allows us to surpass bodily limitations - what Marshall McLuhan refers to as 'Media Extensions'. However, as information from countless sources meshes into a haze of white noise, we risk a new Tower of Babel rising in the maelstrom; as the volume increases we may buckle - overextended and overloaded.

 

This structure wilts, isolated from its brethren, suddenly vulnerable.