Sunday, January 22, 2012

Austin's statement

My work is built from what we think we know about the world.  By “we” I am referring to the prejudices that all humans hold.  Humanity has a rich history of prejudice, tribalism, and short-sightedness.  It is our greatest natural resource.  I build objects and narratives that offer both myself and the viewer a chance to consider potential errors in how we imagine our relations to each other and to the natural world.  To facilitate this goal the art hijacks our dominant cultural narratives and subverts technologies developed for commercial or martial success: implements of destruction and terror become means of propagating native wildflower seeds in urban areas; a gas mask filter is replaced with wheat grass; and the human who commits acts of terror is considered as a human and not as a two-dimensional villain.  Through examining our assumptions about the world I hope to learn to see the world more clearly.