Residence Time
5:36 minute loop, 2 channel projected installation, kinetic sculptures, archival inkjet prints on acetate, custom created scent; 2022
In 2014 it was reported that an unknown quantity of the carcinogen “dioxane 1,4” had leaked into the Cape Fear River Basin contaminating the drinking water of over one million people. Over the past eight years numerous spills of up to 18 times the EPA recommended parts per billion have been documented as originating in Greensboro tributaries and thus traveling downstream to the Atlantic. Due to previous spills and lack of action by the local government, the Department of Environmental Quality has entered a Special Order by Consent with Greensboro to monitor the city’s detection and notification protocols of future spills. Yet, despite the known risks of liver/kidney damage and death, dioxane 1,4 remains unregulated at the city, state, and federal level. While the City of Greensboro refuses to release the name of the company responsible for the largest spills or how much was discharged, it is known that the synthetic chemical 1,4 dioxane is a by-product of dyes used in the textile industry.
Residence Time investigates the ways in which the city is complicit in violence, both against humans and the environment, in support of the industries that fund the City. Immersing the viewer in the waters laden with unseen state-sanctioned violence; a soundscape and corresponding projections explore what can’t be captured on film, that which slips by unnoticed and the trust we place in images and institutions. As a highly miscible (i.e. mixes well) substance in water that does not readily biodegrade in the environment, dioxane 1,4 is virtually undetectable without scientific equipment, however in large volumes it has a distinct smell. Often described as sickly sweet like overripe fruit, the scent of dioxane 1,4 wafts through the gallery, subtle yet present signaling that not all dangers can be seen. Antagonistic kinetic sculptures will lurch at and splash viewers challenging our assumptions that water nourishes our bodies when in reality it depletes them. Through overlapping social, environmental, and industrial concerns this installation illustrates that all local actions flow out to sea.
In collaboration with Marcus Brathwaite - Sound Design; Kevin Vanek - Metal Fabrication; Nick Rutz - Image Fabrication; Kathleen Block - Assistant Videographer; Badar Jahangir Kayani - Kinetic Engineering and Fabrication
This project made possible by funding from UNCG College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean’s Research Initiative Fund and ArtsGreensboro Artist Support Grant