Art Project: Stand In

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​Object Poems: the Stand In Series

Project Description: 

These conceptual, sculptural works are found object assemblages used to express ineffable, personal experiences. Sometimes, the experiences mapped through these objects are poignant and moving; sometimes they are awkward and difficult,  or hard to recollect at all.  A wink, the last visit with someone, a sudden convergence of events, are broken down into phrases, and paired through a legend, each to an object in the sculpture. 

In a sense this work is about presence: the presence in objects, and the way presence opens up and closes down in the course of living a life, or the movement through a day. 

These Object Poems began as smaller, formal assemblages that can be stored, shipped and presented for exhibition. More frequently they are 8 foot tall sculptures made with available objects from storage spaces related to or on the venue site: Hannah constructs the legend and builds the physical sculpture on site for the exhibition, documents it, and at strike, dismantles the work permanently, returning all objects as found. 

The work then exists as a print of the image and the legend together, which can be purchased as such. Contact Hannah with inquiries and questions. 

Related Projects:

Help me [  ], do the thing.
Attendant
You Are Legend
​What If Project
Clueless

I made this series after witnessing humans,  family members and a close friend with dementia, being separated from the objects of their lives. This project is my way of processing such losses, and is both an exploration of the lives of things and their histories as companions in our homes. Also, I find myself saddened by the sheer volume of discarded things. In the past few years, junk shops are truly overwhelmed, and this is the stuff that isn't going directly into the trash, yet. As this pile up happens on one end of the production cycle and our civic duty to keep consuming because we can brings on that empty feeling, these pieces are small altars to meaningful, alive moments, a way of resurrecting discarded things, and a process for making use of the gravity of our human, earthen predicament.

This  project explores  the inevitable and human experience of parting with what we care for and hold closest, and my own fascination with all the 'stuff.' I'm interested in the inside/outside delineation in human experience, what we don't know of another's life, and what's laid open to be seen. Also, what we often can't fully register - those moments - as they happen in our own lives: both the sweet and the difficult moments.

These works, presented via  garlands, pedestals, shelves and spindles, generally are under two feet in their largest dimensions. Larger site specific, temporary versions are often 8 feet in height built on a weighted armature. The work includes the sculptural assemblage and the legend that accompanies it. A photographic document of the final install paired with the legend is also available for purchase.

Larger Site Specific Pieces from this series have been exhibited at:

Washtenaw Community College Gallery, Ypsilanti MI
Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck MI
Ann Arbor Art Center, MI
Turd Hill Residency, VT

Smaller Formal Works have been exhibited at

The Drawing Center, New York NY
555 Gallery, South Boston MA
Scarab Club, Detroit MI
Barickuda Gallery, Ann Arbor MI
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Please contact me if you'd like to learn more about the project.