This body of work derives from 100+ photographs taken of the Hulett Ore Loaders, which were a site of grreat controversy in Cleveland, Ohio at the turn of the millennium. Being that I have an active interest in industrial and media history, I ventured onto the grounds and took these images, knowing that these structures would soon be demolished.
This was the first body orf works on birch, and they signified the excision of memory from the community as the Huletts (and other structures, like the Mather Maritime Museum) were threatened to be erased from Cleveland's memory. The burning of the wood with the laser seemed to suggest dissapearacne of material, the burning of memory, and the disintegration of structure/history.
The aspect of this body of work (as in Space Invader & DM/Figuratives) is its inscription within wood as its primary medium. Thedigital image is formalized by etching them into birch panels by using a high-power laser cutter programmed to selectively burn the pixels into the wood proportional to the degree of grayscale in the image. In this way, the images are them made manifest; there is no question of their materiality. The pieces are now burned reliefs of the digital image, their smell reifies their tangibility, and their sepia/black burns refer to the history of photography.
Series of print works on paper will be created in Fall 2005 with this method.
Huletts/Cleveland Skyline (1998-2005) Laser-etched Birch, 24"x12"
Huletts/Support Building (1998-2005) Laser-etched Birch, 12 "x24"
