
Aluminum RRR #2. 2018
THE UTOPIAN DILEMMA
I explore connections between photography and sculpture by investigating the object and its materiality, while commenting on the potential for recycling. These photographs document objects collected during walks around my neighborhood. I chose aluminum because it endures as a visible emblem of the traces of consumer products that mark our environment. Aluminum forms are reclaimed, molded into a new sculptural structure, and presented in these photographs as an idealized, yet absurd comment on the possibilities for reuse. My sculptures are bound with tape, which adds tension and foregrounds their transitional status.
As we confront our contemporary existence, our desire for convenience and embrace of consumerism, we find ourselves faced with a Utopian Dilemma. The euphoria of modernism, with its promise of an elevated standard of living achieved through the availability of affordable mass-produced goods, has been replaced by an anxiety aligned with twenty-first century concerns regarding sustainability. We consider Utopia to be an idyllic place: freedom from want in a land of plenty. I strive to transform the discarded by inverting our value system, inspired by Thomas More’s sixteenth century story of Utopia. I turn trash into treasure with the hope to prompt changes in social behavior.

Aluminum RRR #1. 2018

Aluminum RRR #1. 2018
Note: The text above was written by the Artist. No modification was made by C.O.C.A.
Marilyn Waligore has exhibited internationally-- Hong Kong, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Thailand--and in venues such as: SIGGRAPH, Los Angeles, California; New York Digital Salon, School of Visual Arts, New York City; Filter Photo Gallery, Chicago, Illinois; Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Texas Biennial, Mexican American Cultural Center; Austin, Texas, Her awards and honors include: Ohio Arts Council Artist Fellowship, Visual Arts; Arts Midwest/ National Endowment of the Arts Regional Visual Arts Fellowship, Photography; and Moss/Chumley North Texas Artist Award, Photography and New Genres. Her work is included in museum collections such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas.