1) What are my initial reactions to hearing about his work?
I never really thought about whether I like getting hurt randomly or not. I guess it depends on the context and the extent to which I feel pain. If I was by myself at some gallery crawl and some random fuckin’ piston punches me in the dick, I’m going to probably lash out. But if I was with my friends and this beaker spits acid out at me but I was able to dodge it, I would probably giggle. … So I guess I’m saying I think he is a sadist. He might think it is all about communication and creating ‘conversations’ but at the same time he is evoking suppressed fear and distress. However, at the same time I label him a sadist, I realize I too am a sadist (especially to get sexual gratification out of it). I enjoy being bitten and crushed and I definitely know how a near death experience can change your whole outlook on your life and your work. I guess I would just have to play with his shit in order to get it.
2) Is his work influential to me?
Yes. There is always work out there where the artist tries to get the audience to interact with their piece but it never works. Like Carl Andres’ 144 Lead Square at MoMa for instance. People don’t understand that it’s there and it’s on the floor and you can walk on it! Even Dr. Malena Bergmann (the best professor I ever had ever) said her intentions were for people to walk on her Requiem tubes, but nobody did it. Morales has found a way to create art that doesn’t resemble having the function of art. His work is transforming the gallery space into an amusement park. It’s a smart way of conveying your message to your audience by directly including them as part of the piece; I mean, his work is beautiful by itself, but without someone to prod or electrocute, it wouldn’t be as functional and would thus lose a lot of its meaning.
3) How would I describe his artwork?
If I was just a plain passerby outside of a gallery space, I probably wouldn’t describe them to a friend immediately as works of art. It’s to me more like a something an engineer or architect might put together. This type of work reminds me of my dad. He owns and operates his own mechanic shop on Sugar Creek in Charlotte. Some days, when it’s not busy because of rain or snow, he will just sit around sketching ideas in his mind, and taking old car parts and build little functional sculptures out of them, like whirligigs or wind chimes. I always find it fascinating when people from other fields of study incorporate their knowledge into making art. Like Frankenstein’s monster creation, or chemical engineers using acids and bases or chemical reactions to create beautiful murals, or using numbers (the Golden Ratio, Fibonacci sequences or math metal) to create baskets or draw perfect circles. I especially enjoy the science behind making art. I’m glad Morales is doing what he is doing. But I wouldn’t call him an artist initially. He is more of a mad scientist.
4) How do you think he develops his ideas?
There is obviously an abundance of images to borrow from everyday culture. Street sweepers, slingshots, military weaponry; science-fiction novels are loaded with futuristic ideas on how we will fight crime or build bridges; plastic surgery, obviously laser tag, electric chairs and tattoo parlors… the list goes on. He lives in a nation where violence is all around us and the media is giving us our daily injection of fear and hysteria. All he has to do is look outside of his window and watch people tear other people apart. Then all he has to do is build a machine that ups our dosage of fear and distress, or that can help us destroy ourselves that much quicker. There isn’t really much thought you have to put into it. How can I tap into the psyche to promote hostility and aggression? That’s all you really have to ask yourself.
5) What have I learned about his artist?
It’s really interesting to me how he plays on the anxiety of the audience to give his work meaning. At the same time it sounds to me like he isn’t necessarily trying to develop a communication between his work and the audience, or the audience and their ability to cope with hostility, but more he is trying to find meaning in his own work. I’m sure getting shot in the head sucks, but living to tell about it is close to a miracle, and I know I would feel gracious for what I was given (not blessed because I’m not very religious). And I don’t think there is any good way of saying what I mean, but his work seems like a way to understand the injustice he endured. I’m sure that if I was shot, then I would want to understand why I got to live, or want to get the shooter back or try to cope with it in some way. Maybe he is creating this work to try to understand the person who tried to murder him, or to justify their acts against him.
6) What ideas can I take from him to use in my own work?
My family is a bunch of packrats. We have so much shit just laying around our yard that people could probably pay me to take things to use in their pieces. I have never been to the junk yard because my house is sitting on one. But even though I live in one, I still feel the compulsion to go out and buy shiny, new materials to use in my work. I like how Morales takes his junk and makes it bling. He talked about polishing and removing scratches from all the machine parts he used, making them look like new. Maybe I just need to learn a little more about industrial cleaning methods, or get some Goo-Gone or something. In this last year, I have seen a lot of people make really astounding work from found objects. I just don’t think I have developed that talent yet of seeing the beauty in garbage. Seeing his work makes me a little more open minded when viewing found object pieces.
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