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Spa-alter (Hygiene Theater), in progress  
vacu-formed molded polystyrene, wood, steel, pond pump, blue water

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To experience the Spa-altar (Hygiene Theater), visitors step up into a narrow vestibule that is approximately 12 feet high, 12 feet deep, and 3 feet wide. Polystyrene sheets are vacuformed over a pharmaceutical landscape, this abstracted pill topography creates a grotto-like sensation. At the far end of the altar, a disinfectant blue-hued liquid trickles from the top of the wall and pools in a horizontal channel on the floor, like a baptismal. Part spa, part sanctuary, the installation elicits the sterility of a shower, a sanitarium, or a padded cell.

The catalyst for the installation was seeing a close relative, a heavy alcoholic, scrub the tub until their fingers bleed. 

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exhibition record:

  • From the Ground, Up: Design Here and Now, 516 ARTS Museum, Albuquerque, NM 

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