The Rate of Transfer, 2006
The following images describe a dual sited project. Part of the project was created in Saarbrücken, Germany, the other in San Francisco, California. I engaged both sites with a conceptual sculpture whose main component was the reconstruction of a demolished 1930’s kitchen and dinette. My attempt to piece it back together took place over a ten-week residency at the San Francisco Arts Commission gallery. (right image)
At the Künstlerhause, Saarbrücken, a photomontage of the kitchen (prior to demolition) along with two monitors was installed. The left monitor played a video loop of the destruction, the right monitor revealed live-feed images of my reconstruction from California. The dual sited sculpture reveals a laborious and futile journey of trial and error.
Demolition Through a Pinhole Camera, 2003
After researching various demolition sites within San Francisco, I chose a house on the Great Highway that had various histories; it’s use as a brothel, a family dwelling, and an apartment complex. I built a pinhole camera to document the entire demolition onto a roll of 120 mm film.
The Death of Kamikaze Clayton, 2001
On January 15th, 2001, I used a pinhole camera to document the demolition of a San Francisco housing project in North Beach. Inadvertently, the death of a demolition laborer is recorded.
Chasing Demolitions
I first began to chase demolitions in 1999 when the dot-com boom was at it’s height. Not an inquiry into nostalgia, the pinhole was used because it had no lens and made a direct contact with the shape of place through light. It also formed a natural peephole. I found places deemed for demolition through City Permits.