Process

Video

The Vagus Leviathan

2008
Assemblage with photo, fiber optic lens and kinetic miracle
50 x 21 x 6 inches
Collection of John Little

The movement of thought is the instigator of happiness, empathy, desire and other reactions that define human emotion. The vagus nerve runs from the brain and through the center of the body, responsible for many of the physical reactions we experience when faced with various situations. Heart rate, respiration and other systems are regulated through this nerve. The image of the woman appearing in the glass is an ex-girlfriend—and friend still—someone through which my emotional landscape for many years was shaped. The leviathan reference does not, of course, represent her, but rather that untamable neural path through which the highs of elation and the lows of despair travel.

BRUDNIAK

“The Vagus Leviathan is the most personal piece, centered on the portrait of an old girlfriend that appears and then blurs out like Auntie Em when Dorothy looked into the witch’s crystal ball in “The Wizard of Oz.” The way she moves in and out of sight reflects the ups and downs of a relationship as well as the fading and then sudden sharp recall of memory.”

DAN GODDARD – Glass Tire