How High is Too High?
How High is Too High?, 2016
Assisted Vertec, gym court plank, 60”x180”, 2016
Body Size, gym court plank, maple, resin, enamel, 5’9”x3’, 2016
Vertec: An object designed to test and improve Vertical Jump
In this iteration, the augmented vertec leans precariously at 15ft tall (well beyond human limits). The new height stages, performs, and measures the apex of the average leopard jump and reach.
I choose the leopard, and employ “leopard logic”, to explore socially constructed spaces of devision (hierarchies) versus physical realms of genetically altered bodily difference (height) in humans. Leopards are the smallest members of the large cat category. Yet, the leopard is highly adaptable and lives across the globe, from sub-Saharan Africa, to, Russia, China and the islands of Java and Sri Lanka, (according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)). These cats survive in almost any type of habitat, including rainforests, deserts, woodlands, grassland savannas, forests, mountain habitats, coastal scrubs, shrub lands and swampy areas. In fact, leopards live in more places than any other large cat. Their adaptability and status as predator makes the leopard the perfect metaphor to explore the ways in which humans create spaces of difference between each other — as we do with the natural realm.
“leopard logic” is an ongoing formula of thinking and considering.
The project follows a form of nonsensical questions stemming from, “leopard logic”:
Why do we as humans consider ourselves above the natural world?
Where does our sense of authority come from?
Why do we create hierarchical understandings of existence in the manner in which we do?
Who is really in power?
Who is in control?
Why?
