stars down to earth, 1997
As an installation, stars down to earth invests the gallery space with a hybrid of waiting room entertainment, absurd narratives of irrational hope and promotional paraphernalia. This amalgamation displays the fictional and irrational dimensions of false hope evidenced in the current popularity of horoscopes and lottery tickets. By framing these recreational addictions in their economical realm, the work attempts to reveal the attraction and repulsion we have towards such phenomenon. The installation echoes these opposing states — soliciting the viewer/listeners participation with humor, while critiquing the reduction of complex emotional states and economic needs to unattainable proportions.
The title is borrowed from a text by Theodor Adorno, “Stars Down to Earth and other essays on the irrational in culture”.
More recently I completed a version of stars down to earth (1999) without the video component and phone line — replacing these elements with an audio loop of Walt Disney’s Geppetto singing “When You Wish Upon a Star” — slowed down so that it is familiar but not immediately recognizable. This re-make was presented in 48/hours 48/rooms, an exhibition organized by Ingrid Bachmann in a rooming house scheduled for renovation.
—
stars down to earth, 1997
9" color monitor, auto-repeat VCR, monitor mount, amplifier, 3000 blue balloons, steel stand, 28" glass fish bowl, phone service with 3 menus.