2018
Approx. 60cm x 90cm
concrete, Hitachi Magic Wand Original, throw pillow
All objects possess a level of animacy in my mind, and I experience gifted objects as being particularly “alive.” It makes sense then that my Hitachi Magic Wand vibrator, the most expensive gift my ex-partner gave me, is potent with a high concentration of perceived animate energy. Even months after the relationship ended, every time I used the wand, I could feel his hands on my throat. I might be the first person on earth who was happy when their vibrator died; the wand was a relic of that person, and its death set me free. But being a person with immense sentimental attachment to objects, I felt extreme discomfort at the prospect of throwing out or “abandoning” the wand, even in it’s useless state, and thus my work titled No More Magic was conceived.
No More Magic is composed of three distinct elements: the energy, the object, and the plinth. The energy comes from the actuality of the energy running through the wand’s dead wires, through the on-switch set to full power it threatens self sabotage to the sculpture, should the vibrator come back from the dead. The object, a hand-made cement cylinder imbedded with the wand, reflects the form of a halo, giving a holy (if not modernist) death to this object that would universally be classified as unholy, even sinful to some. Finally, the plinth, a repurposed shag rug, performs as a reminder to the viewer that the object presented is of great sentimental value to the artist, while simultaneously providing a comfort for my wand, who has never lived outside a pillow case before it’s first display.