A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust, a collaboration with Hannah Israel, is an investigation of the marks of human presence. In this installation we present a collection of objects that have been reformed, displaced, and redefined. We are interested in mapping the fragility of meaning and time to explore the human experience.
During the Renaissance, Wunderkammen, or cabinets of curiosity, were private spaces, created and formed around a deeply held belief that all things were linked to one another through either visible or invisible similarities. People believed that by detecting those visible and invisible similarities between objects, they would understand how the world functioned, and what humanity’s place in it was. Used in various ways, ash is the material common to all objects in the installation. It represents the fleeting nature of human experience, the birth and death of objects and ideas throughout history. Ultimately, the installation is a psychological space, inviting viewers to a new understanding of the shape of all things.