Contractions of an Amorphous Solid, trt 5:00, 2007, multi-channel video installation

Contractions of an Amorphous Solid plays with illusion and reality by calling our attention to scientific celestial imagery. Using bubblegum to create the lunar images produces a fantastical illusion of otherworldly entities and makes us look at “low tech” everyday items in a new way that is larger than life.

This is a world that we created that echoes our domestic life through the audio and reshapes our personal vision through the imagery. By using simple lighting tricks with everyday bubble gum, we create an imaginary world that has never been seen before. Normally, light illuminates an individual in a photograph or video, but the result of the lighting in this project obscures our identity as we hide behind the visual manipulation of the image and enter a new world of our own creation despite the domestic foils that play in the background sound. Through the reference of scientific celestial imagery, these lunar bubblegum-scapes question the perception of our private lives in a technologically driven society by playing with illusion and reality.