“The Generative Freeway Project” by Matthew Sleeth
Title:
- The Generative Freeway Project
Artist(s) and People Involved:
Exhibiting Artist(s):
Symposium:
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Artist Statement:
This self-generating work – “part robot, part performance and part durational kinetic installation” – populates itself over the exhibition period by way of a prototype 3D printer. A new ‘component’ for a model of a freeway system is ‘printed’ every 30 minutes, and is then placed on the gallery floor by visitors as directed by the artist; by the end of the exhibition the system will cover the gallery floor. By rendering visible the process of making and assembling the sculpture, the performative nature of the installation is embedded within the work. Situated within the traditions of kinetic sculpture and durational installation, this work also has a close relationship to performance in its direction of participants’ physical movement through time and space. The Generative Freeway Project takes the freeway – a central infrastructure and key cultural metaphor of our society – and extends the allegory by using its intersections to draw attention to the chaos, confusion and constant movement of our world.
