The Way Life Should Be

An immersive installation comprised of an Algonquinesque composition of synthetic rocks, trees, grass, and wildlife decoys is confronted with dislocated nature sounds of crashing waves and sea birds that resonate throughout the fabricated environment. The entire synthetic wilderness exists four feet off the floor, resting on a raised platform. The doorway to the room is abruptly bisected by two disparate worlds: the manufactured landscape above and the contrasting reality below. Ducking beneath the scaffolding and to the right of the door a ladder is found which provides access to this artificial oasis which falls marginally short of utopic. Nearby, a decoy deer emerges from behind some shrubbery, occasionally interrupting the oceanic overtones with an unexpected guttural moan – a moan that is difficult to distinguish between pain or ecstasy.

The curious montage of synthetic nature creates an odd environment of dislocated natural references, exploring the limits of our capacity to suspend disbelief. It is a project that exists within a culture in which the synthetic or the stand-in has become increasingly commonplace, and where any notion of an authentic reality is at best questionable. The overstatement and absurdity of this peculiar installation sets a playing field in which our existing relationship to both the synthetic and the natural can be explored; Its fiction reflecting on the reality (or recreated reality) of the world we live in.