Artist Statement

---

 “On Again.  Off Again.” 

They said this was coming. The Digital Age. The biggest part of our connecting is through communicating. These days, most of our communication is via some sort of device; cell phone, computer, digital camera.

The back bone of modern electronics is the TRANSISTOR, basically a “switch” that controls electrical signals (Amazing fact; there are more transistors on the planet than ALL the leaves on ALL the trees on earth).

My sculpture explores how we tend to take our connections for granted and how easy our communications can go haywire when our signals get crossed.

So, if the transistor is the switch, the turning ON and OFF of the switch is done by only TWO digits, ONE (1) for “ON”, and ZERO (0) for “OFF”. That’s it, welcome to the Digital Age!

Here’s where it gets crazy. All this signal switching happening in all of our devices (our watches, cars, toasters) is occurring at an unbelievable speed and efficiency, something we tend to take for granted. Have you ever thought about it? Ever wonder why the switch for most of your gizmos has a “1” for ON and “0” for OFF? Universal connectivity!

So, being a sculptor known for realistic wildlife, I will convey this digital connectivity by fabricating a large Passenger Pigeon ascending in flight with the digits of 1 and 0 depicting its form and outline.

Mankind used the Passenger Pigeon for carrying information over long distances for hundreds of years, mostly during times of war (why waste a good technology on something useful?)

The bird will be ascending in an ethereal mode (Ethernet….. go figure….) to convey a sense of hope that we can keep our lines of communication from becoming disconnected.

This art piece will be an interesting and informative addition to the Art Centre’s garden and be enjoyed by all ages for many years.

---

Installation