Cognizant
In the spring of 2022, I placed wall installations in 15 local Madison, Wisconsin businesses. The works were inserted into the walls of these establishments, creating lights and noises incongruous to the environment they inhabit. Most people walked by these artworks, ignorant of the magical experience right next to them. For the very few who saw the installations, a small enchanting moment invited viewers out of their environment and into an instance of questioning. These junctures of inquiry are of great interest to me. The invasive artworks created brief seconds of unexpected art viewing, blurring the line between when we expect to be looking at art and when we are operating within everyday life.
I play with the moments between our realities: where the ground shifts beneath our feet, and we find ourselves suddenly transported into a different world, where the extraordinary makes us question what we believe to be actual. The existence we define for ourselves curates our experiences around us. In this circumstance, many did not experience these improbable moments of intervention.
This exhibition gave those who missed the art a moment to read about the spectacle outside of their perception the month prior. It now gives those outside of Madison, Wisconsin, 2022 a moment to experience the unavailing of perception. The words you read or listen to are the voices of the secret keepers who have watched the art being discovered.