Though my work begins with found objects, it is far from being “ready-made.”  Handicraft and mass production are brought together through labor-intensive transformations whereby various techniques are used to parse and reassemble the objects into new forms.  This attention to craft is confounded by the relative “disposability” of the materials and by the fact that these transformations often undermine the intended function of the object.

As such, I think about the things I make as the inverse of prototypes.  They do not predict a future proliferation of similar objects.  Instead they return the infinitely reproducible type to the unique and singular present.  These “aprototypes,” as I call them, are meant to resist objectification and become active things, evoking new perceptions of — and relationships with — our built environment.

By altering everyday objects like chairs, tables, even walls, I hope to free them from the hierarchies of functionalism and fashion based consumerism so that we might consider their materiality along with their cultural and psychological significance.  Ultimately, my aim is to articulate a more holistic view of the material world-one that is shaping us as we shape it.

Photos for this artist.

Residency: October 2007 - January 2008
Art Exhibition: Friday, January 25  &  Saturday, January 26

Visit Scott Oliver's website