Hayden Dunham
To the Sky (solid), 2019
charcoal, oil, powder, acrylic, liquid glass, screen, metal
101 x 76 x 12,7 cm
About the work
How do the byproducts of industrialization become embodied? What kind of models, in terms of presence and circulation, do these materials propose? Hayden Dunham investigates these questions in her shape-shifting practice, which takes the form of sculpture, installation, performance, video, sound, and text. Dunham discusses the carcinogenic chemical C8, which was developed by 3M in the 1940s and later used in Teflon and other applications by DuPont. Not only is C8 found widely in the water supply, studies estimate that it is present in the bloodstream of 99% of the American population. Dunham is interested in how we co-exist and co-evolve with entities such as C8, while simultaneously considering how an art object can mimic such the substance's form and movement.
The artist turned her attention to oil. As a main driver behind late capitalism, oil filters into almost every aspect of contemporary life. Her Spring 2019 performance 7 Sisters at MoMA PS1 uses the widespread presence of oil as its starting point, which immerses the audience through a choreographed set of music, poetry, video, and scent around her installations. The title refers to the Greek myth of the Seven Sisters, whom Zeus turned into stars, and the shorthand used for the seven transnational oil companies who monopolized the industry for decades by signing the Iranian Consortium Agreement of 1954. The comparison recalls oil's role in the history of illumination, where the petroleum-derived paraffin found in kerosene lamps was the primary source of light until the rise of electricity in the late 19th century. This invention extended the workday, and it is an indicator of oil's key role in the advancement of contemporary capitalism.
The flipside to light is, of course, darkness. Dunham's work is imbued with darkness, not only as a refusal of a permanently illuminated (and thus productive) world, but also as a poetic gesture towards an existence outside oil dependence.
Hayden Dunahm
b. 1988, Austin, TX, USA. Lives and works in Los Angeles and New York, USA.
Recent presentations of her work include the solo show Inside Darkness, There are No Lines, Times Square Space, New York and the performance 7 Sisters at MoMA PS1, New York (both 2019). She has participated in exhibitions and performances at: New Museum, New York; Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York; Artist Curated Project, Los Angeles; SIGNAL Gallery, Brooklyn; Company Gallery, New York, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.