‘Grooming Corridor’

14”H x 10”D x 42”L

Mixed Media (Wood, plaster, paint, paper, polyurethane)

2011

Private Collection

This piece is a scale model for a proposed immersive, confined space installation. The architectural system imposes an absurd means of purification as a commentary on social grooming. The hanging forms represent flypaper strips; the floor and wall grids represent white soap ‘tiles’.  The figure enters from the right side and is 'cleansed' from all sides as they crawl through this gauntlet-like space-to emerge on the left side as a 'purified' entity. I was interested in creating a system similar to the 'instrument' in Kafka's story 'In the Penal Colony'. 

The piece is entered and exited by passing through a white panel door and video monitor above the door. The video depicts primates in the act of grooming one another. The video monitors are located above both the entrance and exit doors and play the same loop.