Earlier statement

This was written as an artist's statement for an exhibition July 2005 Same idea as the longer statement posted earlier except specifically relating to the exhibition at King's...

The underlying theme of these works is our perception and uncertainty regarding electricity, especially in a domestic environment. Despite our familiarity with electricity at an everyday level it remains an invisible inexplicable force, tinged with fear, mystery and connotations of both pain and sexuality. At home our domestic appliances are taken for granted, and a simple light globe seems harmless enough with its warmly glowing filament. But even the familiar microwave carries a subtext of menace from the mysterious rays behind that shielded door.

We trust electricity – up to a point. Keep it in its place, don’t let it out. A light beside your bed is fine but lights in your bedsprings? These works try to show that a slight shift in the spatial or functional relationship between everyday objects can ruin your day, or at least significantly affect our emotional responses.

Don’t touch. No user-serviceable parts inside. The warning signs ostensibly protect us but at the same time they also reinforce our fear. Science museums, teachers and other white-coated experts ostensibly tried to educate us about electricity while exploiting our apprehension with their don’t-try-this-at-home demonstrations. This collection of works tries to bring these contrasting aspects of electricity together.