This is a eu-topia, a happy place.  Tucked-away in quietude that only faintly suggests its shadows, its whiteness conforms and adapts to the living space of the white wall. It can be looked at closely or far away, and from every angle. Its form suggests an open-ended possibility to grow and replicate on greater expanses and more corners. The corner placement imitates random organic growth, and poses the question: where will we be in eons, when we fail to preserve the earth sustaining us?

This installation explores materiality—the potential in which a material speaks the intent of the art by placement, variation and repetition. There is a beauty to the mundane objects such as straws in their ability to offer surprises in terms of location, versatility and dynamism. Mass and magnitude impress, but manipulation of one straw or group of straws breeds an infinite vocabulary of expression. I chose straws as a commentary on environmental problems of contemporary existence. The ubiquitous presence and low value of straws comment on mass production of plastic, while the form of the work speaks about overpopulation and increased urbanization.

Eu-topia / εὐ-τόπος (“good place”)
7 x 5 x 2 feet
Straw

 
 
 

Eu-topia / εὐ-τόπος (Detail)