“My Blood is a Novel (handle respectfully)”
Pencil on paper, steel, acrylic glazing, and wood
2021
Invented in the 1830’s as a form of entertainment the phenakistoscope (the slotted rotating disc viewed through a mirror), was the 17th century version of the GIF. Controlled by the viewer, the phenakistoscope produces short, repeating animations.
Often times we watch things happen to ourselves, caused by ourselves, without our control or consent. Like the loss of one’s hair, the process of aging, or eating the last cookie without remembering. It is not much different than not being able to look away from an accident. But in this case we are the car, the driver, and the viewer.
I watch, hidden behind a wall. I watch myself, both horse and rider, fall again and again. Not able to look away. I am all at once amused and entertained but also subtly aware that my hand is on the handle making the horse and rider continually collide with the invisible ground. We are creatures not only of habit and pattern but we are the creators of many self-destructive structures. We so often know what we are doing is not the best for us and we choose to to crank the handle, and watch.
