Object for Provoking Apprehension (Impending Biohazard)

1991
Assemblage with mercury and marble
12 x 5 x 5 inches
A stone marble floats on mercury.
Collection of Joe Diaz

Not long after purchasing this piece Texas collector Joe Diaz spoke to me concerned about the consequences of breaking it and spilling the mercury in his living room, and that if the piece was jolted, couldn’t the marble crack the glass? I explained that the toxic vapor of mercury is well known as a health danger and that clean up of the gravity-hungry liquid metal would present quite problem especially if it made its way into the carpet and through the cracks in the floor etc. It was then that he realized the significance of the title and how truly irresponsible I am.