At what point does the ordinary become extraordinary? Driven by three principle concepts, Villa Borges explores the relationship between materiality, context, and narrative. A series of material explorations in the form of sculptural wedges corporealized these ephemeral concepts. Using weight, light, texture, and opacity the monoliths delve deeper into Clandestine Politics, (Extra)Ordinariness, and Subtle Strangeness.
Mixing the discoveries of these three themes with motifs embedded in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the magical realism of Jorge Luis Borges, and Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island, Villa Borges then follows Special Agent Burt Macklin’s journey through a dreamspace motel - the last known whereabouts of his missing partner. The ordinary features of a roadside motel slip into surreality where nothing is quite how it ought to be. As he delves deeper into the rabbit hole, does Macklin’s once firm grasp on reality begin to slip, or is reality simply not what he once believed?
Subtle Strangeness: "It's only when we wake we realize things were strange."
Clandestine Politics: "the more we know the one, the less we know the other."
(Extra)Ordinary: "All we can do, Scully, is pull the thread and see what it unravels."
Monolith 01: Rawhide, piano wire, wood, mirror
Monolith 02: Concrete, paraffin wax
Monolith 03: Fresh bread, spray paint, divine intervention
Monolith 04: PLA, cheese cloth, paraffin wax
Monolith 05: chip board, clay
You'll never get to leave
Before too long, however, the will-o-the-wisps materialized as an illuminated sign: "Vacancy."
“We’ve been expecting you.” Behind an ornate wooden desk, a skeletal figure looked blankly at Macklin through the floor-to-ceiling mirror.
Up and down up and down, never able to experience the whole room at one time.
He looked to the side, and she was there, standing at the end of the hallway, watching. Watching. Watching.
Physical Model: rawhide, concrete, paraffin wax, dowels.
Physical Model: Observation Port.
Physical model: The Sisyphus Suite
Physical Model: The Labyrinth