Most of the production for this work was done while in residency at MASS MoCA.

A family tree is usually a rigid form, documenting relationships and family structures through time. This work uses forms playing on my family tree, loosening that structure to bring in more distantly (and tangentially) related elements and to follow lines from one point of origin down through its connections and repetitions, tracing cultural and historical “family resemblances”.

A machine gun invention by a member of my family is part of this tree, as are its descendants, and many relationships grow from it. Beginning in one place, a sound rings through time together with corresponding image-objects, and the relations are gathered around them, showing their conflicts, contradictions and alliances.

This work was largely made during a residency in summer 2021 at MASS MoCA (North Adams, Massachusetts USA), and comprises the surrounding (and background) environment from this place. The work uses this historically industrial and currently post-industrial setting to enhance its focus on the residual, conflict-laden relationships found throughout my family.

More details about the work process for this piece can be found here and here.