The Décor Project: Decoy - The Absent One

In the home of Robin Held, Curator of Exhibitions, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA, December 2004. This project was inspired by Ms. Held's expressed interest in the work of George Brecht, a Fluxus artist who is most well known for his Chair Events. We were also motivated by Ms. Held's voicing of the space under her bed as one of her favorite objects. We focused on putting to work an interplay of representation and presentation in the photographing of absence as a unique kind of presence, looking for ways to frame absence as an object. For us, this project is an experiment in framing objects to emphasize the structures that hold absence in its place, or make it a place-holder, such that all objects can be thought of in this sense – as decoys. Furthermore, this project is in response to Ms. Held's position as curator at the Frye Museum, where she has the challenge of renovating what representational art can be within current modes of artistic production. –Artist statement