Wattage
Los Angeles, CA, USA
2017
*Installation at OneNightStand LA
Wattage confronts the inevitable death of the architectural installation with brutal authenticity. Directly reminiscent of Chris Burden’s Urban Light, LA’s favorite/most photogenic installation, it knocks off his knock off (of Sheila Klein’s “Vermonica”) with a ruthlessly authentic re-architecturalization, only possible within the context of the motel room. The piece is an assemblage of unwanted or forgotten lamps from around Los Angeles, acquired directly from several local neighborhoods, carefully organized within an empty motel room (carpet, curtains, and paint remain as backdrop) to create an overwhelming, ecstatic spatial moment from deeply uninteresting and mundane objects with little or no professionally validated historical value. Wattage aims to re-introduce the efficacy and genuine allure of the architectural installation by laying it to rest and replacing it with an uncanny landscape of dramatically familiar things.
Each lamp is cataloged with a biographical narrative referencing its former location and owner posted in the adjoining Portrait Gallery.
