sculpture + michaelallencollins@gmail.com + 217.549.8914
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Artist/Designer Statement
The modern RV is a hybrid of an automobile and a house. I’m creating new hybrids which revisit the utopic vision of the founders of the portable dwelling, exploring how we benefit as a society from the ability to change our location, yet maintain a certain level of stability. I’m creating experimental modes of transportation which seek to explore the potential for new experiences, and the establishment of a set of leisure practices. At many moments in our history people have sought to enhance their experience of leisure by combining activities and creating their own realities, oftentimes a mode of transportation was employed, and the experience of movement through space became the goal. Something as common as listening to music in an automobile at one time had to be revolutionary, pioneering the way towards a shared experience that would relate to our cultural identity.
There is a conflict between the conventional lifestyle of permanence and stability, and the longing to achieve a sense of freedom through movement. What is the role of the individual in relation to the institution, and how do we navigate our way through the system? Are we limited by the structure of the institution to a point of being controlled, or does the institution benefit us with providing the structure to allow us to achieve our goals? The unconventional journey is a shared cultural pursuit, a vision quest, from conquering a mountain, to traveling to the moon, each person creates their own reality. Through my pursuit of a set of critical leisure practices I’m seeking to improve the lives of others and myself, while providing a framework to contemplate philosophical and ethical concerns related to my existence.
Work
1953 Kozy Coach Mobile Home, 8’x9’x45’ Digital Image, 2008. This is an image of the mobile home from which the bicycle trailer sculpture “Kozy” was created. This image is several months prior to the removal of the windows and aluminum siding, which were the principal materials for the project.
Kozy, 40”x36”x13’, Mixed Media, 2008. This image shows myself sitting in the doorway of the trailer, gazing towards the horizon, in a moment of contemplation.