58 Yard / 53.0352 Metre Runway
2015, home built airplane, documentary video, performance of flight attempts, installation at Glenfiddich Gallery, Dufftown UK
A three-month project for the Glenfiddich Artist In Residence prize (Dufftown, Scotland) had me constructing a working airplane in the house I was assigned. Challenged to reconcile the strained coexistence between residential and industrial functions of the space, while overcoming limitations of time, weather and material availability I encountered throughout. Toxic and flammable chemicals shared kitchen space with food. Metric materials had to be substituted for imperial ones, along with a judgement call to round up or down. Specific brands that were available in 1981 North America had to be replaced with UK equivalents, through trial and error. This act of translation, along with an ongoing struggle to decipher contradictory or incoherent instructions made for a tense build. The absurdities, obstacles and solutions were documented throughout the fabrication process in a 27 minute long video, intercut with footage from my quixotic attempts to fly the completed aircraft.
Selected related texts:
The artist gratefully acknowledges:
Andy Fairgrieve, William Grant & Sons, Glenfiddich AIR
Arturo Hernández Alcazar, Alex Bowron, Robert Bremner, Joseph Brown Vats Dufftown, Canadian Art Magazine, Chang Huei-Ming, Su Chang, John Chotia, Dr. Sara Diamond, Graham Domke, Dave Dyment, Han Seok Huyn, Beth Havers, Jesson + Company Communications, Lise Hosein, Ian Law, Rory MacLean, Krupa Makhija, Ben Martin, Caoimhe Morgan-Feir, Daniel Muñoz, John Paul, Ken Pemberton, Bec Reid, Julian Sleath
Suso Treintaytres, Gaëtane Verna, Adelina Vlas, Dave Wheeler