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Ecstatic Generator

• Future Tenant Gallery April 2010, Wassaic Project Summer Festival August 2010
• 11 min video loop installed with a disguised monitor or window projection

Ecstatic Generator is an animation of water vapor on glass. Facial expressions of ecstasy materialize and contort subtly as imprints in condensation.

In this work, I am interested in a highly digitial/technical production of traditional illusions such as the ubiquitous sighting of the Virgin Mary in a hospital window. How do these miracles reflect our desire to believe? How can that desire be manipulated, distorted, and reproduced?

In addition, Ecstatic Generator investigates a number of physically and culturally interchangeable experiences of the ecstatic. All video sources were collected from cultural artifacts published on the internet, including: a Pentecostal child receiving the Holy Ghost, an orgasm in amateur web-pornography, a member of the People's Temple rejoicing during service, an Olympian winning a gold medal on national television, a young woman filming herself on MDMA ("ecstasy"). How can we understand the relationship between these physical states?

Ecstatic Generator was originally installed in a gallery bathroom, mounted above the sink within a fake medicine cabinet to replace the bathroom mirror. A hazer and bright fluorescent lighting filled the space with ethereal, simulated steam, suggesting a cause for the 'foggy' 'mirror'. The second installation occurred outdoors on a parked car window. I would like this piece to be reproduced in various locations and scenarios in order to slowly generate its own micro-mythology.