The site of Drucker Graduate Center, Claremont, CA

Untitled (Balancing Act)

dimensions variable

mixed media

Drucker Graduate Center, Claremont, CA

2011

In conjunction with an institutional conference and accompanying art exhibition entitled: 'Balancing Act, Theory and Practice' a proposal for a temporary installation is submitted to the governing committee of the conference. The parameters of the proposal are as follows:

'The site of the conference's architecture: the Drucker Graduate Center shall have one 12-inch section removed from an existing I-beam. Starting 60 inches from the base of the ground, the section shall be torch cut and removed for the duration of the conference. Two custom made jacks will thereby be inserted to bear the load of the removed section void. At the end of the conference the jacks will be removed and the section of removed I-beam will be welded back into place and seamlessly ground flush. The entire I-beam shall then be repainted.'

The proposal is denied approval. Handwritten in red ink upon the proposal paper the conference committee decisively counters an explanation for the denial, stating a multitude of safety issues, structural issues, and university liability.

The aforementioned proposal paper is consequently hung upon the intended I-beam at the start of the conference exhibition with red tape.

At the culmination of the conference the proposal paper is removed from the I-beam. It is placed into a pocket and brought to the top of the I-beam where it is removed from the pocket and folded into a paper airplane. The proposal airplane is then given flight, flying over the heads of exhibition goers before taking a nosedive crashing into the exhibition grounds below.