INSTALLATION/FILM SET
A Tenuous Framework is a sculptural installation originally built on a prairie restoration site at Ripon College in Ripon, WI. Composed of a few open stud walls beginning to define the shape of a 19th century farmhouse, the building process continued throughout its duration, but remained incomplete. Functioning primarily as an outdoor sculpture or an object of curiosity for users of the nearby trails to contemplate, it is also set piece for our ongoing film project, The Inhabitants.
In Spring of 2015, the structure was slated for destruction by fire during an annual prescribed prairie restoration burn. However, wet weather conditions that year prevented the burn, so the structure remained in place until Spring 2016. The 2016 burn successfully altered the installation, and also served as a climactic moment in the film, transforming the sculpture into its final form - a charred remnant and a meditation on effort in the face of adversity and inevitable demise.
By October 2016, A Tenuous Framework was deinstalled from the prairie and relocated to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison, WI for inclusion in The Wisconsin Triennial. In Fall 2018, the structure was again on view at the Rockford Art Museum as part of the exhibition Dwellings.
A Tenuous Framework on view in “Dwellings” at the Rockford Art Museum (left), and in “The Wisconsin Triennial” at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (right).