WHO: Daniel Fagereng

WHAT: "The Haptic Object"

WHEN: May 5 - June 5, 2004

WHERE: PDX WINDOW PROJECT, 612 NW 12th Ave. Portland

HOURS: 24 hours a day, view from sidewalk

EXHIBITION NOTES:
Artist's statement:
"This most recent body of sculptural work involves exploring the form of the electric guitar as a unique iconic outgrowth of Modernism in its implied aura of limitless possibility. Each piece is based on an actual guitar within rock music culture in form and scale. The twist is that these pieces, although bereft of any actual sound-making capability, make up for this lack by an over-emphasis on decorative craft. Instead they were conceived as sculpture to wear and they spring from the idea of creating an object that incites the body into the physical act of delivering the silent powerchord as a supremely powerful gesture."

Because the formal qualities of the electric guitar are so well adapted to the contours of the human body, my intention was to create these sculptures as "haptic" objects that are experienced more for their form as opposed to their tactile qualities. This intentionally places them in the tenuous realm of the lifeless tool, much like an obsolete axe handle, an empty rifle stock or a forlorn dildo, whose sensual qualities, while visually stimulating, are better appreciated in the hands and against the body. These works then become potential objects for the pleasurable activity of embracing a sculpture that receives rather than amplifies; the more extroverted phalli-centric posturing of rock stars is channeled into something more contemplative such as mining the music of the inner ear."

–Daniel Fagereng 2004