The Nail That Sticks Out Gets Hammered in 10'X18'X30

This piece also takes place in the attic of an old army barrack at the Headlands Center For The Arts. The room is filled with fifty, battery operated "dancing" flowers that move in response to sound waves. On either end of the room a speaker is played at considerable volume, a "dialogue", an argument between a drill sergeant and a veteran. The vets monologue at first sounds rational, but it soon becomes apparent that he has lost his grip on reality. Or has he? The sarge is the voice of authority, dominance. His job is to break down the will of the recruit--to "re-invent" the man. The voice of the other--the paranoid, frustrated Vet, struggles to assert himself and maintain his identity, while the dancing flowers wiggle and squirm in response to the sound of their voices. The sound activated flora, a representation of the natural, are man-made and move to our rhythm.

War and Peace-10'x18'x30'

This installation takes place in the attic of the army barracks at the Headlands Center for the Arts. The room, which contains it, is sealed off with bird netting. It is a large flight or aviary. As you approach the front entrance to the piece, the lights in the room turn on, illuminating two rows of eight pair of black army boots. They are attached to ski-like tracks. When the viewer enters, the boots begin moving back and forth simulating a slow march to nowhere. Also in the room are sixteen white doves. They usually feed on the ground, so when the boots start moving, this sends the birds up in a graceful flutter to their perch near the back windows. This piece is intended to be a simple meditation on war and its social implications. The boots stand in for infantrymen but also represent technology and the way it dehumanizes people, much like the army, through standardization and forced conformity, The doves are nature to this culture. They stand as witnesses to the scene before them and fly freely in contrast to the regimentation of the monotonous shuffling boots.