Thank you Michael for the great week! Although your lovely webmistress did not actually partake in the hand to wood building of the sculpture, I think I speak for everybody when i say thank you for honoring us with the opportunity to create with you.
We wish you luck and success in your future ventures!
~the *A*R*T* Depart. at Chico State
pictures of the project have been posted on Flickr! More to come…. That reminds me, I do not know everybody. If you see yourself in a photo and you aren’t identified or identified incorrectly, please shoot an email to: builtforlife AT mac DOT com. the same address can be used to send pictures you’d like to add to the Flickr group. if you would like to join the flickr group and upload your own pictures, use the same email!
During Arcega’s visit to CSUC he will create a large-scale sculpture project in Ayres Hall B-So gallery space. His pieces are labor intensive and usually require many hands to build. Groups of students will work closely with him on the execution of the sculpture project.
A note from the artist:
“So the idea of the project was inspired by these things called Diversion Safes. I just wrote a paper about their social and domestic significance. The initial confrontation of the Chico project will be boring, two stacks of wood on furniture dollies. They are actually hollow in the center. the interior will be lined with maroon velvet-like fabric. I’m starting to shy away from immediately describing them as coffins. Rather, they are meant to conceal humans. I was thinking a lot about the concealment of labor in the marxist fetish sense- but also, in the undocumented labor sense. This also speaks toward globalization, and the division of labor in the global sense. The Mariana Islands for instance is a US territory, but most of us have never heard of it. Anything made there can be stamped with “Made in the USA.” It’s in the Pacific, very near cheap labor.”
Michael Arcega is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in
sculpture and installations. His art, though visual, revolves largely
around language. He is interested in using comedic formats and
tactics to express darker global issues. He received his BFA in
Interdisciplinary studies at the San Francisco Art Institute and is
currently working towards his MFA at Stanford University.
