Unnamed Priest with Libation, 2023
67in. x 44in. x 32in.
towel found on street, cement left over from landlord’s development project, copper refrigerant tube and radiator fins from discarded air-conditioning units and refrigerators, copper plumbing fittings, copper jewelry wire, reclaimed electrical wire, tin smelted from pewter steins and tableware found in box on street after neighbor passed, plumbing solder and from industrial manufacturer liquidation auction, 420 myo limestone from Silurian-era extinction event, water bottle found in recycling bin, aluminum stock from machine shop liquidation auction, bathroom sink from condemned building demolition, painted steel pipe from residential demolition, drum hardware from electronic kit found on street, cement cast of water bottle left in studio by subletter, black pipe found in dumpster on street in front of building demolition, machine screws, hose clamps, turnbuckles, cement cast of reclaimed styrofoam packing inserts, furniture sliders from furniture found on street
(see expanded material list and description at bottom of page)
Unnamed Priest with Libation, 2023
67in. x 44in. x 32in.
i. towel found on street (Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY)
ii. hydraulic cement donated by landlord, left over after building development project (Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY)
iii. copper refrigerant tube and radiator fin salvaged from discarded air-conditioning units and refrigerators found on street (Ridgewood, Queens, NY) (tagged, CFCs recovered)
iv. copper plumbing fittings purchased from used parts reseller on eBay from user tinman5711 (Plainfield, IL), 608scorpio159 (Winona, MN), electronics_plus (Hingham, MA)
v. copper jewelry wire from closeout wholesale dealer ‘Wolf E Myrow’ (Providence, RI) and reclaimed from discarded electrical wire from dumpster (Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY)
vi. copper filter drier from refrigerator found under BQE (Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY) (untagged, CFCs unrecovered)
vii. tin smelted from pewter steins and tableware found in box on street after neighbor passed (Ridgewood, Queens, NY) and plumbing solder and tin ingots from industrial manufacturer liquidation auction (Taunton, MA)
viii. 420-million-year-old carbonate sedimentary rock from Silurian dolomite limestone, collected from decommissioned cement mine that supplied material for the base of the Statue of Liberty (Rosendale, NY)
ix. water bottle found in recycling bin (Ridgewood, Queens, NY)
x. aluminum stock purchased in bulk at auction from machine shop closing inventory liquidation (Englewood, NJ)
xi. bathroom sink from condemned building demolition (Ridgewood, Queens, NY)
xii. painted steel pipe from satellite antennae array from residential demolition (Ridgewood, Queens, NY)
xiii. drum hardware from electronic kit found on street (Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY)
xiv. cement cast of water bottle, left in former studio by subletter (Providence, RI)
xv. black pipe found in dumpster on street in front of building demolition (Ridgewood, Queens, NY)
xvi. “4-40 .5-inch 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws” purchased from Grainger (Maspeth, Queens, NY)
xvii. “6-32 3/4-inch 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws” purchased from Grainger (Maspeth, Queens, NY)
xviii. “8-32 1-inch 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws” purchased from Grainger (Maspeth, Queens, NY)
xix. “10-24 1.25-inch 18-8 Stainless Steel Socket Head Cap Screws” purchased from Grainger (Maspeth, Queens, NY)
xx. “1/2- 1-¼ in. Stainless Steel Hose Clamps” purchased from Home Depot (Maspeth, Queens, NY)
xxi. “3/16-in x 5-1/2-in Aluminum/Steel Hook and Eye Turnbuckles” purchased from Lowes (Cranston, RI)
xxii. casts of polystyrene packaging inserts salvaged from recycling bins (Ridgewood, Queens NY)
xxiii. portland cement stolen from furloughed municipal construction site during COVID quarantine period (Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY)
xxiv. furniture sliders taken from broken band saw left in studio building prior to leasing and renovation (Ridgewood, Queens, NY)
note: A libation is a drink poured out as an offering to the dead. It shows up as a ritual all over different eras and cultures, probably originating in Egypt and moving across the cultures in the Mediterranean world in different forms for the next 3000 years. Wherever this ritual is present in a culture, there are sculptures of figures pouring libations. Hundreds of different religious figures across thousands of years, all performing the same act – a robed figure pouring liquid out in a simple act of sacrifice. I was making a series of objects about people who were close to death in some way and I felt I should make this same sculpture. I found a towel in the road that I cleaned and used for a robe. I found a plastic bottle in a storm drain labelled ‘alcohol’ in sharpie. I used copper tubing I had scrapped from tossed AC units and fridges. A sink I had found from a demolished home. A radiator grill left for me by a scrapper friend. I needed a body to cast parts of the figure, and I used my own without much thought, other than ease. I made an alginate mold of my hands and cast them in tin I smelted from a box of pewter mugs I found in front of a home being cleared out during the pandemic. I soaked the towel in cement my landlord left in the basement, and draped it over my own shoulder while I held the position of the ancient priest. Weirdly, I decided to do this on my birthday. My soon-to-be-wife helped me and it was also her birthday. The cement took a long time to set, and the prolonged weight ended up crushing my shoulder against the bone, giving me a deep contusion. I also didn’t know about cement burns at the time, and the skin most in contact with the towel was burned, despite precautions. The whole process was very painful overall, and I now have a fairly large permanent scar. After I finished the work, I realized that it was essentially the only work in a whole series of connected works about death and the body and that featured my body, and only my body. I had essentially (and literally) cast myself as the priest figure, in thinking about the material residue of life and its value during the pandemic. In retrospect, it feels fitting that it left a permanent mark on my body.