Source, Resource (Waterbar), Installation, Dimensions Variable, 2003

The premise of "Source, Resource" is drawn from a piece I had done for the event, High Desert Test Sites 2, in Joshua Tree, California. The H.D.T.S. 2 piece was essentially the creation of a site where people could gather, have a drink of water and take in the landscape. "Source, Resource" is an attempt to recontextualize this situation into an urban gallery setting instead of the desert landscape.

"Source, Resource", is an installation comprised of a central seating unit, three wall-mounted coolers filled with bottled water and a custom wallpaper design. The idea behind it is to offer people a place where they can informally gather, drink some water and possibly converse and exchange ideas. Where the "Water Kiosk" in Joshua Tree situates the participants' focus outwards in order to emphasize their relationship to the landscape, "Source, Resource" directs their focus towards one another, in order to emphasize their social relationships. This is done through both the seating arrangement and the way the viewer's attention is directed.

Both pieces contain water from the headwaters of the three major rivers that have been redirected to feed Southern California. In "Source, Resource" each water type is specific to the shape of each wall-mounted cooler. "Mono" is shaped like Mono Lake and contains water from the headwaters of the Owens River, "San Pablo" is shaped like the San Pablo Bay and contains water from the Sacramento River headwaters and "Colorado" is shaped like the Colorado River Delta and contains water from the Colorado River headwaters. In "Mono" the color patterning is distributed in relation to water depth, while the color in "San Pablo" is distributed due to water temperature and the color application in "Colorado" was applied according to water distribution. These specifics of both the water and the wall-mounted coolers are presented as a reminder that even the most innocuous element of a social setting carries political and ecological meaning, and hopefully leads the participant to scrutinize how we exist in the world.

The three custom shaped coolers are made of medium density fiberboard and are finished with automotive paint. Each cooler has a central box made out of maple, which is cooled by a Cool Chip fan assembly. The central seating unit is made out of maple plywood and has blue upholstered foam cushions. Situated above the seating unit is a lamp made of vacuum formed acrylic.