The surrealists believed that objects in the world possess a certain but unspecifiable intensity that had been dulled by everyday use and utility. They meant to reanimate this dormant intensity, to bring their minds once again into close contact with the matter that made up their world. Andre Breton’s maxim "Beautiful as the chance encounter of a sewing machine and an umbrella on an operating table" is an expression of the belief that simply placing objects in unexpected context reinvigorates their mysterious qualities.
- Jonathan Lethem, The Ecstasy of Influence, a Plagiarism, Harper's, February 2007
I've liked making things move using motors and other means since I was very young. As a child I had a particular fascination with robots and in fact it was my dream to become a robot - I grew up an electrician (by trade) and sculptor (by desire) instead. My kinetic pieces explore different ways to make objects move.
I created my first kinetic piece over thirty years ago from scraps of wood, a fan and recycled paper products that my father brought home from his job as an envelope salesman. My current kinetics use air to inflate, deflate and otherwise make move recycled materials. I suppose the deeper meaning here is that I'm breathing new life into objects that otherwise would have "died" - destined for a landfill, the burial ground of our culture's castoffs. My pieces bring new life to these dead objects.
The piece in the window, BagSlab, is part of my "air fountain" series, which includes several pieces modeled on botanical forms. Each goes through a cycle of expansion and contraction; they breathe. They are reanimated with the air that surrounds us, unseen and often unnoticed, until that breath is taken away. It takes only a moment to realize you have lost something essential once it is gone. It is my desire to help others see what can't be seen, notice the under valued, and to take a moment to breath.
- Dave Meeker, March 2007