Snake in the Grass (2004)
Wheatgrass, Solenoids, Vinyl Tubing, Brass Piping, Air Compressor, Microcontroller

Snake in the Grass is a kinetic sculpture comprised of a 3' x 3' square of living grass, a hidden air compressor and microcontroller. Those viewing the installation see a "safe" plot of green, perhaps transplanted from a suburban lawn. Periodic motion can be detected amongst the blades: an illusion of compressed air exhaled through a series of strategically placed vents. The motion has an animal quality, giving the impression that a small mammal or reptile (snake) is scurrying through the grass.

Though the popularity of the suburbs in the United States is predicated on an ingrained desire to flee urban density, those who live outside the city exhibit an ambivalence towards nature, and grass in particular. Suburban lawns are not wild: special care is taken to purge them of bugs, reptiles, and small mammals. Enormous amounts of money and natural resources are spent each year on the creation of perfect green moats. Sterilized, carefully manicured lawns are lifeless: it is the house at the end of the cul-de-sac with the slightly untamed brush that feels so full of life (and simultaneously, so dangerous).

• Exhibited
• December 16-17, 2004, Blink, New Wight Gallery, UCLA