Visible Object

2007

altered lamp, wood, steel, laser levels, and video projection

H 6’ x L 6’ x D 2’

Based on the efforts of the Visible Human Project (1989); Visible Object is an absurdist investigation into the corporeal existence of a common household lamp. The lamp was mounted in a rudimentary apparatus that carried the object horizontally through space. The speed and distance travelled are precisely controlled by a manual worm gear located at the front of the machine. As the lamp travels forward, laser levels provide an accurate line over the surface of the object. This guide allows for an accurate eighth-inch cross section cut to be removed from the object. Once sliced, a custom light box illuminates the edge of the fresh cut and a photograph is taken. This process is continued until the lamp exists solely in documentation; the once physical object was destroyed as the matter changed from a solid to a digital state. The images created a stop-motion animation, virtually passing through the lamp from the top of the shade through the base of the object. The cross-sectional photography was also compiled into a large Chromira print that displays every layer, from beginning to end, simultaneously.