ARTIST STATEMENT
There Are Knives is a sculptural installation featuring hundreds of suspended plastic knives. I will hang 200 tightly-spaced plastic knives from the ceiling so that they point towards the middle of the room. A spot in which participants are encouraged to stand. The knives will cover a wall and a portion of the ceiling and be cut into points, like prison shivs. The position of the knives creates tension in the space. Although the sculpture is static it evokes immense danger. I want to create a space that is threatening and uncomfortable for the person in it, and makes them hyper-aware of their position in space and time.
Some concepts in this piece are drawn from the work of other artists. Spatial awareness and danger are subjects of the work of Marina Abramović. In Rhythm 10 (1973), knives and an element of danger are fundamental elements of the performance. Another of her pieces, The Artist is Present (2010), forces participants to be present and in the moment – essentially putting them on the spot. This is what I hope to achieve with my piece: total body awareness.
I also draw from the materiality of other works. Suspension of sharp objects is achieved by Guo-Qiang in Bon Voyage: 10,000 Collectables from the Airport (2004). And in The Mending Project, Beili Liu performs beneath hundreds of pairs of scissors that hang from the ceiling.
VISUAL SUPPORT MATERIAL
Installation Cross-Section
Knife Modification
REFERENCES
Abramović, Marina. “Rhythm 10”. 1973.
Abramović, Marina. “The Artist is Present”. MoMA. 2010.
Guo-Qiang, Cai. “Bon Voyage: 10,000 Collectables from the Airport”. Collection of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris. 2004.
Liu, Beili. “The Mending Project”. 2011.
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