Dying industries...Artifacts...Remnants of a once-vibrant economy...

Much of my work investigates the history of manufacturing and the manufacturing of the historical; it is an ongoing discussion about the ways objects are created, destroyed, reborn, labeled, packaged, and made nostalgic.

My most recent work grapples with two seemingly disparate ideologies. On the one hand, there is my fascination with today's culture where emphasis tends to be on the mass-produced, marketable item. I am lured by the proliferation of quick replication, mechanization, and computer coding systems. In contrast, I value hand-made, unique objects. I mourn the demise of crafted, unique items, which have given way to mass-produced items valued for their marketability instead of their workmanship.

As a resident of the singularly unique Kohler Arts/Industry program, I was able to witness first-hand the collision of these two paradigms - the mass-produced and the handmade. Work produced in the factory must conform to Kohler's long history of German craftsmanship. Kohler wares, while painstakingly crafted, must nevertheless conform to the modern production standards of uniformity and repeatability.

The violins in Metronome and its companion works were a direct outgrowth of working on the floor of the Kohler factory. Each day I would watch the workers add bar codes to the ware they had made. These serve as a tracking and inventory device to identify each piece, where it was made, and which worker made it. Indeed, the bar codes were the most important identifying feature of the work, functioning much like a modern-day artist's signature.

By co-opting this mechanism, Metronome itself becomes both an expression of individuality and an item of mass-production. The violins, obviously made from a process of casting, imply a sense of repeatability and uniformity necessary in modern production techniques. Likewise, the cast-iron cases - also made in a mold-driven manner - are a metaphor for the demise of the hand made. Miniature crypts for silent violins, the cases entomb objects that once stood as symbols for the highest level of craft and artistry.

In 1995, I moved from Oregon to the financially depressed town of Athens, Ohio. Marked by industrial decay and economic despair, my surroundings were a sharp contrast to the technology-driven West Coast. My journey from a prosperous tourist town to a city clinging to the remnants of the industrial revolution highlighted our nation's movement from labor-based, manufacturing culture to a society of entertainment and information.

As a result of my relocation, I began a body of work that attempted to speak to this economic and cultural shift. Utilizing a mixture of installation, performance, and site-specific artwork, I addressed issues specific to the culture of Southern Ohio, but also relevant to the societal and economic landscape of our nation as a whole. In the Reconstruction Series, I created site-specific works to reflect the decline of the once booming brick industry in Athens. My re-created bricks were idealized substitutions (porcelain rather than terra cotta) to draw attention to the local architecture and the brick industry in a larger socio-economic context. The various "reconstructions" were a series of ironic repairs trying to save an industry already extinct.

Since beginning my formal artistic training, I have been keenly interested in artists who worked in large-scale, installation-based formats. Artists such as Anne Hamilton, Rebecca Horn, and Ed and Nancy Keinholz captivated my imagination with their sensual use of materials, ambitious use of space, and idea-driven artwork. I was intrigued by the methods these artists used to create work of formal beauty and physicality, while simultaneously producing artworks with complex conceptual underpinnings.

Like the artists mentioned above, I actively seek to involve my audience on a visceral level that expands to their conceptual engagement. While my work tends to be conceptually motivated, I continuously seek new ways to create art that seduces my audience in an aesthetic and corporeal approach. By offering formal intrigue and physical presence, I strive to entice viewers of my art further into the experience, captivating them with visual, tactile, and intellectual elements.

- Shawn Busse, 2000