Sculpture:




See-Saw Video Installation / Monument to O.J. Simpson

This piece features a full-size working metal see-saw that has a television and VCR installed on one end and a seat on the other. I created a 5 minute looping video which featured clips of O.J. Simpson from the three "Naked Gun" movies. When O.J.'s eyes open wide, brief murder scenes from movies such as "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Psycho" are edited in. The concept behind the see-saw is that it acts as a sort of scale of justice. When noone is sitting on the seat, the television and VCR are tilted down signifying O.J.'s guilt. When someone is sitting on the seat, representing the juror, the scales of justice are tilted in O.J.'s favor as the television and VCR are tilted up. The observor, or juror, tilts a guilty O.J. into being declared innocent. The two biggest challenges in creating this piece were figuring out how to attatch the bar to the base while allowing it to rotate and creating a device which would safely and securely attatch the television and VCR to the bar. To solve the former problem, the bar was welded to a hollow tube which was inserted around a solid tube which was attatched to the base. A metal cage was created to tightly hold the television and VCR in place on the bar so they stay in place while the bar is rotated.




Metal Chairs - Performance / Video Art

This piece features two identical metal chairs fitted with restraints. Each chair has a helmet attatched by metal cables, two pairs of handcuffs, and a stop watch. In March 1999, two people were chosen from a small audience to be strapped into the chairs, which look very similar to electric chairs. After they were strapped in to the chairs, which were facing each other, they were asked why they thought they were strapped in the chairs. The two avoided making eye contact with each other and were extremelly confused until they were told that they were participants in a staring contest. The two used the stop watches to time each other. After the contest, they were released from the chairs. The whole event was videotaped, and afterwards, the participants and audience were interviewed about the awkwardness created by the proximity, restraints, design, and unknown use of the chairs.



Eric Myerson

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Last updated April 18, 2001
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Copyright ©1998-2001 Eric Myerson