The American Totem, the Automobile, the Car.
In 2022, I was awarded the opportunity to have a solo exhibition for my BFA Senior Thesis at UW-Stout. I applied with the intention of referencing the freeway, but it quickly turned towards an exhibition focusing on my car, a 2011 Chevrolet Impala LS.
My thesis that drove the exhibition was constantly changing and difficult to pin down. It started as a long winded rambling, but the final thesis is correct.
The exhibition was an hour long experience, referencing the drive from Menomonie, Wisconsin to the Twin Cities in Minnesota on I94. I have been on that road, doing that drive, an uncountable amount of times. It’s the Artery of The Midwest. I wanted something that would hold people to the space for that time, so I produced an hour long ambient track that is reminiscent of driving at night.
While the thesis is a focus on my Chevrolet Impala, it was also a focus on making home. The Car is a place that people sit and experience, it’s a place of interior reflections. Furniture as sculpture became a focus, along with home lighting, all falling back into ‘car’ territory. I sourced seats from junkyard cars, all Chevrolet.
