“…support reveals itself to be an instrument of evaluation, and is exactly the mechanism that has (as its property) the potential to release value. Support is a moment of pure potential.”
–Celine Condorelli, ‘Exergue’
‘PLACEHOLDERS’ is a series of work that explores how objects provide support, both in space and in thought, becoming a scaffold upon which meaning is built. In this particular configuration, the objects themselves hold place, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups, sometimes in support of things, and other times not.
The repetitive nature of the ‘PLACEHOLDERS’ form shifts slightly to accommodate different contexts, each with a different set of requirements. This implies a sort of resilience and adaptability, however in actual fact they are rigid and uncompromising, which asks more of the object being supported to be adaptable.
Capturing this moment of pure potential between two otherwise disparate objects, and holding it indefinitely, challenges our notions of what is more important: the thing…or the thing that supports the thing? One without the other would not be able to reach it’s full potential, as most things in life become established through similar acts of support and tension. We humans are especially a product of various systems of support, that in different ways have either held us up or failed to do so, asking for that support to manifest from within, or for us to become the support itself.
‘PLACEHOLDERS’ hopes to live, amongst people, on people, with people, around people, and through people…