Mercy
Mercy is a story of survival born out of the process of making.
A piece of scrap metal was appropriated from a junkyard and covered with wax. The metal piece was covered in melted wax and installed on top of a cone wrapped in white muslin.
Project Year
2000
Materials
metal, gauze, wax, sound
Location
Vancouver, BC Canada
Project Status
Completed
While applying molten wax to the surface, the differences in temperature and materials caused vibrations in the surface of the metal, creating audible tones in different pitches. The resulting sounds created an uncanny melody resonating from the discarded metal, which was reminiscent of the song “You are my Sunshine”.
The finished piece was placed at the top of a grassy knoll accompanied by a recording of the old song.
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The metal, demonized, is asking for mercy and now it’s singing this song to me.
Many years later, after moving to another part of the city, the artist encountered the very gate from which ‘Mercy’ had been cut.
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