Study for Uniform Dispersion
2011
Metalized slide masking tape adhered to wall.
Dimensions vary
Uniform Dispersion is a wall-based installation made from strips of metalized slide masking tape arranged in the shape of a large reflective circle. The circle engages and activates the wall on which it is installed, creating an elegant, quintessentially modern, composition of a rectangle enclosing a circle that circumscribes a forest of evenly distributed line segments or marks. But here, the language of modernism is predicated on expendable materials: slide masking tape left over from pre-digital documentation projects.
The syntax of scientific diagrams informs the project, from diagrams that illustrate population distributions to the recorded trajectories of subatomic particles inside an accelerator. Because the tape is highly reflective and cut into hundreds of small strips placed at random orientations, the circle has a faceted appearance that changes from every viewing angle (as well as the time of day, if near a window.) The labile properties of the metalized tape ensure the installation’s appearance is never fixed, reinforcing the observation that context is key to the interpretation of both art and science.