Wave/Length
A collaborative body of work with Ruby Andromeda Miller at the Octogon Gallery 2021
Wave/Length is an exploration of how we come to know the things we know, and about how relationships can be a method of knowing. It is a curious exploration of the Great Lakes that have held both Ruby and Kim. It is also a story of how these two artist friends are still connected, even across a vast distance, by the geography of the Great Lakes.
Ruby and Kim collected data from predetermined points along the shores of Lake Erie (where Turner grew up) and Lake Superior (where Ruby currently resides), using thread as a marker that corresponded with the physical distance between the artists. Along these points, the artists collected measurements of the distance between the highest peaks and lowest valleys of the waves as they rushed onto the shore. The varying lengths of the waves dictated the width of the curves of the indigo dyed muslin that undulate along each side of the gallery walls. One side was generated from the measurements Kim gathered along Lake Erie, and the other was created from Ruby’s measurements from Lake Superior.
This data collection and display is a gentle satire of empirical information; the joke being that the truth of accurate measurements was a futile pursuit in the dynamic environment of the waves. The yards of fabric are useless as a data set. However, this direct transfer of measurements into fabric embodies an experience of both physical spaces and the human desire to connect by gathering and communicating information about our environments.
Similarly, the cyanotypes and the displayed objects are gathered artifacts and records of those same shorelines. The large cyanotypes were taken while Ruby and Kim were together at Lake Erie, and veer into the narratives of relationship that- although loosely held- give the figures a ghostly agency above the data-driven cloth bordering the gallery. The smaller cyanotypes document the improvisational tools used to take the wave measurements and other interesting artifacts of that process. The text comes from conversations and written out ideas during the development of this project. Some of it fun, some of it serious, all of it a record of connection.
These elements combine in a way that folds ideas, empirical data, and relationships into a multi-faceted way of knowing and creating meaning in relationship with each other, distances, and places that seem to love us back. The result is a sentimental and embodied experience of the lakes, the horizons upon which these artists have steadied themselves, and how steadfast relationships can simultaneously collapse and expand the geographic space between people.
Ruby and Kim collected data from predetermined points along the shores of Lake Erie (where Turner grew up) and Lake Superior (where Ruby currently resides), using thread as a marker that corresponded with the physical distance between the artists. Along these points, the artists collected measurements of the distance between the highest peaks and lowest valleys of the waves as they rushed onto the shore. The varying lengths of the waves dictated the width of the curves of the indigo dyed muslin that undulate along each side of the gallery walls. One side was generated from the measurements Kim gathered along Lake Erie, and the other was created from Ruby’s measurements from Lake Superior.
This data collection and display is a gentle satire of empirical information; the joke being that the truth of accurate measurements was a futile pursuit in the dynamic environment of the waves. The yards of fabric are useless as a data set. However, this direct transfer of measurements into fabric embodies an experience of both physical spaces and the human desire to connect by gathering and communicating information about our environments.
Similarly, the cyanotypes and the displayed objects are gathered artifacts and records of those same shorelines. The large cyanotypes were taken while Ruby and Kim were together at Lake Erie, and veer into the narratives of relationship that- although loosely held- give the figures a ghostly agency above the data-driven cloth bordering the gallery. The smaller cyanotypes document the improvisational tools used to take the wave measurements and other interesting artifacts of that process. The text comes from conversations and written out ideas during the development of this project. Some of it fun, some of it serious, all of it a record of connection.
These elements combine in a way that folds ideas, empirical data, and relationships into a multi-faceted way of knowing and creating meaning in relationship with each other, distances, and places that seem to love us back. The result is a sentimental and embodied experience of the lakes, the horizons upon which these artists have steadied themselves, and how steadfast relationships can simultaneously collapse and expand the geographic space between people.