Night Light (The Companion)
Date: 2021
Medium: Static Electricity Sculpture
Materials: Ball chain and custom electronics
Dimensions: 3.3m x 15cm x 6cm
Tiny sparks jump between long shiny strands of ball chain and, like a shooting star, if you happen to be looking at the right spot, you can catch the spark. The soundscape it creates is reminiscent of a crackling fire with the occasional whipping sound. When I was working in the studio at night I would leave this piece running as my constant companion.
This wall sculpture was prototyped during my 2021 residency at Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, CA. The buildings and grounds have problematic histories as a military base and a sacred Miwok site now managed as federal land. The charged presence of the site led me to work with electricity in its purest form to quite literally charge the space.