Signs of Life
Video / Installation
2022–ongoing
“Signs of Life” is a video installation project that considers the life cycles of the urban landscape through a study of unused road signs.
Since moving to Albuquerque, I have been photographing unused or abandoned road signs around New Mexico, capturing over 75 signs to date.
I then recreated these signs using the 3D modeling and animation software Blender as an attempt to crystallize each object in the condition I originally saw them.
ARTIST BOOK
Each of my projects are paired with a companion artist book that details background information and research. This book contains an artist statement on my project Signs of Life, in addition to: a directory of all abandoned signs captured since 2021, vector drawings, a map of all signs, printed stills from the animated videos, and photos of each sign featured in the book. The book was printed at Risolana, a community risograph studio I co-founded with Michael Lopez in 2021. The animation stills were printed twice to achieve a richer black, but also to create double-images through the slight misregistrations that come with the riso process.
By digitally rendering them as looping 3D animations, each unused sign exists in a perpetual state between death and rebirth.
Signs of Life. Single-channel projection of 3D Blender animation. 9 min 20 sec, 2023