Cindy Hooper's Artist Statement

CYNTHIA ELLEN HOOPER

STATEMENT ON ART

My pictures, projects, and videos examine and subtly ennoble some of the small-scale and often inconspicuous infrastructural systems that undergird and sustain our digitally and mechanically networked environment. These unassuming yet visually arresting apparatus of communication, surveillance, production, and disposal are usually positioned within similarly unassuming surroundings. Industrial zones, deserts, vacant lots, and landfills are particularly rich sites to observe these curious and sometimes mysterious forms in their natural habitats. Despite their obvious purposefulness, these forms can none-the-less generate a subtle anxiety about their safety and veracity. Ubiquitous cylindrical storage tanks, for example, can be elegantly archetypal—but can also enclose mysterious and potentially perilous substances. Pipes and pumps protruding from the earth, likewise, can elicit questions about the nature of the substances they are extracting, and also about the purpose of their subterranean trajectory through the landscape. Despite their often overlooked and even occasionally disparaged status, these types of mechanical elements possess a peculiar and even amusing dignity as they stand stoically and industriously performing their thankless tasks for humanity.

Cynthia Hooper