Binary Pair is a kinetic installation consisting of wall text and a rotating chandelier with a UV black light and white light. The text is screenprinted directly on an adjacent wall: "supernova before the black hole" appears in phosphorscent ink, and "dark before the dawn" is in grey ink. The colorless phosphorescent ink glows as the black light passes.

 

Binary Pair was inspired by astronomy and pessimism. First, I learned about a fascinating method of finding black holes. When one star in a binary system collapses, only the other star remains visible, yet the system retains the mass of two stars. Inextricably linked polar opposites—in which darkness would annihilate light were it not for their mutual gravitational pulls—is a striking metaphor for the dialectical tension of optimism and pessimism. Secondly, the text concerns my ambivalence at the twilight of the American Century.

 

Anti-Campfire is a sculpture of dozens of charcoal ingots surrounding a solar-powered light source. In addition to suggesting a visual inversion of gold bricks or playing on the idiom, 'black gold,' this project is an exploration of the similarities between energy (as in fuel) and will. Charcoal is primarily carbon, a dark, light-absorbing element crucial to life that is the result of stored and expended energy. Light, in all forms, is the evidence of energy being expended. Similarly, optimism can require will, and the exhaustion of that will can result in pessimism.

 

As an extension of Anti-Campfire, miniature charcoal ingots were developed as an editioned multiple. Each mini ingot comes in a jewelry box.

 

Binary Pair and Anti-Campfire were developed in dialogue with the works of Yason Banal for Galleon Trade: Bay Area Now 5 Edition. The exhibition is part of the triennial exhibition Bay Area Now 5 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), as well as the Galleon Trade project, a grassroots exchange tracing the historical trading routes between California, Alcupulco and Manila.

 

Binary Pair and Anti-Campfire were made possible with contributions from General Pencil Company, and the generous technical assistance from artists Chris Bell and Erik Scollon.

Images

1. installation view
2. Binary Pair, 2008, installation (motors, lights, screenprinted texts), 6 x 14 x 6 feet
3. documentation video, 00:29 Quicktime .mov
4. wall text as UV light passes
5. wall text as full spectrum light passes
6. Anti-Campfire, 2008, charcoal, binding agents, light, solar power,
   13 x 13 x 10 inches
   
7. installation view
8. Miniature charcoal ingots, 2008, charcoal, binding agents, jewelry box, 2.625 x 2.625 x 1.75 inches each. Edition of 16.